PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico volleyball finished with its highest team attacking percentage (.216) in its last ten games but were unable to get the best of West Texas A&M as the Hounds fell to the Lady Buffs 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 23-25, 11-25) Tuesday night in Greyhound Arena.
Freshman setter Qitana Sapiga recorded her second double-double of her collegiate career with 19 assists and 10 digs while her sister Rae Sapiga tied her season-high with 27 assists as the pair did a stellar job setting up the Greyhound offense. Defensively, sophomore libero M’Lee Vinson set a personal best in digs as she tallied a game-high 26.
WT rattled off the first three points of the match before the Hounds trimmed the deficit to one as they battled back and trailed 11-10 midway through the frame. From there, the Buffs mounted a 6-1 run which ENMU could not recover from as WT won the set 25-20.
The Hounds jumped out to a commanding 7-2 lead to begin the second set capped off by back-to-back kills from senior Lauryn Bresnahan. Eastern recorded a team-high .270 hitting percentage and rode its early momentum to a 25-20 final to even the game at a set apiece.
The third set seemed bleak at the start as the Buffs looked like they would take the frame easily after holding a 20-13 advantage late. The Hounds refused to give in and rattled off seven consecutive points and tied the frame at 23-23 before the Buffs scored the final two and took the tightly contested set with a 25-23 final.
The fourth frame saw WT jump out to another early advantage, this time leading 8-2, which the Hounds would not recover from. The Greyhounds offense faltered a bit, hitting just .171 as a squad before dropping the set and the match by a 25-11 final.
Three Greyhounds finished with double-digits in kills led by junior Jasmine Gannon as seniors Christelle Kialanda and Sarah Tuioti-Mariner set season-highs with 12 apiece.
The Hounds will look to keep their playoff hopes alive as they face division foes Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin next week with both games scheduled to take place inside