MARSHALL, Texas—After a successful weekend at home, the East Texas Baptist Women's Volleyball team is hitting the road to San Antonio for the Trinity University Tiger Classic. ETBU will face Whitworth (Wash.) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and has a double header against The University of Northwestern (Minn.) and the host university Trinity (Texas) on Saturday. The matches are at 1:15 and 5:00 p.m., respectively.
Here are the game notes for this weekend's matchup.
The Basics
The No. 10-ranked East Texas Baptist University Tigers (8-0 overall; 0-0 ASC) will open their weekend against the Whitworth Pirates (4-3 Overall; 0-0 NWC) on Friday. The match will start at 3:30 p.m. and is part of the Trinity University Tiger Classic, a two-day event hosted by the Trinity University Tigers. On Saturday, ETBU will face The University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) (4-2 Overall; 0-0 UMAC) at 1:15 p.m. ETBU will close their time in San Antonio by facing the host team, the No. 12 Trinity Texas Tigers (5-1 Overall; 0-0 SAA). That match is at 5:00 p.m.
Top 10
ETBU is heading into week three of the season ranked No. 10 in the ACVA/TARAFLEX DIVISION III Women's Volleyball Poll. This is the highest ranking the Tigers have achieved this season. The Tigers started the preseason ranked number 14 with 956 points, then moved up to number 11 following week one with 1,278 votes. This week, they broke the top 10 with 1,370 votes after starting 8-0. They are one of eight teams in the top 10 who remain undefeated, sitting 111 votes behind a 7-0
Washington & Lee program. The Tigers are two spots away from the highest ranking they achieved on the AVCA poll at number eight. They achieved that ranking last season after going into week 12 with a 28-1 record that only included a week one loss to the host of this week's invitational, the Trinity Tigers, who were ranked No. 8 at the time.
New Faces Familiar Places
ETBU's first two matches are against two opponents it has never faced: the Whitworth Pirates and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul Eagles. The Tigers are 4-0 against unfamiliar foes this season, going 3-0 against Edgewood, 3-2 against No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 3-0 against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and 3-0 against Carroll. ETBU may have new opponents, but they are very familiar with Callgard Gym. ETBU is looking for its first win in San Antonio, as they are 0-10 in Callgard Gymnasium.
Tigers Blood
ETBU is facing one familiar foe this weekend. The No. 12-ranked Trinity Tigers are the only school that handed the Texas Tigers a regular-season loss last season. ETBU is 0-12 against Trinity (Texas) and is looking to change that. Their last match-up was a 5 Set battle. ETBU took the first two sets, going 25-15 and 25-17, then the Trinity Tigers battled back, taking the last three sets at 29-27, 25-22 and 15-8. ETBU will look to give Trinity (Texas) their second loss of the season on Saturday in Trinity's home court.
Tigers with Tenure
All of the Tigers' statistical leaders are upperclassmen. Senior
Graycee Mosley leads the team with 110 kills. Junior
Sydney Temple leads the team in assists with 114 followed closely by Senior
Lexi Moody, who has 109. Mosley also leads in service aces with 12 followed by senior
Callie Humphrey with nine. Junior
Anita Hancock leads the team in blocks with 32 and Humphrey leads the team in digs with 84. ETBU's senior class includes five players:
McKenzie Mansell,
Callie Humphrey,
Taylor Poore,
Graycee Mosley, and
Lexi Moody. Four of the five have been four-year starters for the Tigers.
Mosley File
Three-time ASC Most Valuable Player
Graycee Mosley heads into week three with 57 career double-doubles. The 13-time ASC Player of the Week is third on ETBU's all-time kills list and ninth in all-time digs.
'Hey Now, You're an All Star'
Head Coach
Mallory Matthews, the reigning ASC Coach of the Year, enters 2025 with five returning All-ASC players —
Graycee Mosley,
Anita Hancock,
Lexi Moody,
Callie Humphrey, and
McKenzie Mansell. Mosley is the three-time ASC MVP, Moody was the 2024 ASC Setter of the Year, and Humphrey the ASC Newcomer of the Year.
Put a Ring on it
Last weekend, the Tigers received their 2024 ASC Championship ring at Ornelas Stadium.
Hometown Heros
ETBU hosted its home opener last weekend, going 4-0, winning every match in three sets. Last year, they posted a 29-match streak that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They carry a 30-match regular-season home winning streak and a 29-match regular-season win streak into Week three of play. The Tigers have not lost a regular-season home match since 2022, when they fell 3-2 to LeTourneau.
Cool in Colorado
ETBU opened the season going a cool 4-0 in the Pikes Peak Challenge hosted by Colorado College. The Tigers started off the weekend beating Edgewood 3-0 then played a close 5-set-match with no. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. ETBU then took on host Colorado College in a 3-1 victory ending their time with a 3-0 sweep against Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
On the Air
All matches from this weekend will be Live Streamed from the Trinity Tiger's YouTube account titled 'Trinity University' and is linked
here.
