9/21/2021 | Women’s Volleyball | Box Score

PORTALES, N.M –Jasmine Gannon registered her 1,000th career kill in a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to New Mexico Highlands University, on Tuesday evening at Greyhound Arena.

The first set began with both the Cowgirls and Greyhounds trading points, with the Hounds surging to a 15-11 lead. N.M. Highlands immediately closed the gap to tie the game, but ENMU responded with a 6-1 streak featuring kills from Kali Nelson and Mikaela Garvin, 21-16 Eastern. The Cowgirls came within two points, but ENMU held on to the set 25-23, finished off with a Garvin kill.

Eastern started hot in the second set, jumping out to a 11-5 advantage. ENMU kept their distance in the lead, holding out to take a 25-19 win. The Hounds were paced by four kills from Gannon, while Garvin, Nelson, and Jordan O’Connor-Dempsey all added three kills in the second frame.

New Mexico Highlands took over in the third set, rattling off a 11-2 stretch of points, to hold a 13-9 lead. ENMU continued to work its way back into the set, but could not catch the Cowgirls, 25-17, putting the score at 2-1 ENMU.

The Cowgirls continued the momentum and garnered an early 9-3 advantage. ENMU tired to get back in the set, but N.M. Highlands held a six-point gap on set point. However, ENMU tallied six straight points with McKinzie Davis and Adriana Puni at the service line. The comeback started after a Gracelyn Stubbs kill, which Davis then lined up a service ace. Puni was then subbed in to serve the rest of the way. Puni collected a service ace, and a block for Gannon and Stubbs tied the set at 24-24. Each team were cautious, but traded points producing five ties and five lead changes, 30-30. From then, New Mexico Highlands found a kill and capitalized on an ENMU mistake to finish the fourth set 32-30.

The final set saw each team go back and forth with the lead, with neither team able to establish a lead larger than two points. However, a two-point streak from ENMU gave themselves a 10-8 lead. This two-point stretch featured a Davis kill and a kill from Gannon, which marked Gannon surpassing 1,000 career kills. From then, N.M. Highlands bounced back to bring the score to 12-11 Eastern. At that point, the Cowgirls closed the game with a 4-1 scoring streak, which took the final set 15-13, and the match 3-2.

NOTABLE STATS

  • The Cowgirls outpaced ENMU in kills (69-64), and assists (67-62), while both teams provided 72 digs on the evening.
  • Gannon set a season high in kills with 18, along with a season high in total blocks with four.
  • Also adding the attack, Garvin finished with 18 kills, Stubbs found 11 kills, while O’Connor-Dempsey added eight kills to the Hounds attack (All those marks were career highs for Garvin, Stubbs, and O’Connor-Dempsey).
  • Rae Sapiga supplied a season best 32 assists, while Qitana Sapiga notched 22 assists, also a personal season high.
  • Defensively, Gannon led all Greyhounds in digs with 15. Grace Ramirez marked a career best with 13 digs.
  • Stubbs lead all competitors in total blocks with six.
  • Garvin also supplied a career high in points with 18.5.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

  • Gannon is only the fourth Greyhound to ever reach the 1,000-kill mark, joining the likes of Jennifer Goble (1,687), Christabell Mariner (1,600), and Lauren Frye (1,472) in the ENMU history books.
  • This is the second five set match in the last two meetings between the two programs. N.M. Highlands came out on top in the last meeting, 3-2, in Las Vegas, N.M.
  • The Greyhounds and Cowgirls squared off in Greyhound Arena for the first time since 2016, a 3-1 victory for ENMU.
  • As a team, Eastern set season highs in kills (64), and assists (62)
  • Eastern jump back into conference play at Greyhound Arena on Friday, Sept. 24th, to take on LSC foe Western New Mexico University. The evening match is slated for 6 p.m.