9/3/2021 | Women’s Volleyball | Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DALLAS, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team began its season at the Patriot Tournament in Dallas, Texas on Friday afternoon. In game one, Arkansas Tech University downed the Greyhounds, 3-0, later Eastern fell to host Dallas Baptist University, 3-1.

GAME ONE: ATU 3, ENMU 0

The first set featured a back in forth battle until the Golden Suns went on a six-point stretch giving them a 19-10 advantage. The Greyhounds closed in with a late five-point rally to bring the gap to 24-20, but the Greyhounds fell 25-20 in the first set.

Set number two featured another close matchup, with both teams standing at 20-20 before Arkansas Tech rattled off three consecutive points on two Emily Ragsdale kills. The Golden Suns would go on to close out the second set, 25-21.

Arkansas Tech would carry its momentum into the third set, stringing together 10 points on four service aces from Morgan Solberg to put the score at 14-3. The Greyhounds eventually fell n the final set 25-8, to give the Golden Suns a 3-0 sweep.

NOTABLE STATS

  • Arkansas Tech provided a 24-kill attack, with ENMU just behind with 21 kills.
  • Defensively, Arkansas Tech collected 24 digs, while the Greyhounds picked up 14 digs.
  • Gracelyn Stubbs led all players with seven kills, while Kali Nelson was close behind with four kills for the Greyhounds.
  • Jasmine Gannon paced the defense with seven digs, leading all competitors, and added one solo block.
  • Qitana Sapiga and Rae Sapiga led the Greyhounds in assists, with nine and seven assists respectively.

GAME TWO: DBU 3, ENMU 1

Not much separated the Greyhounds and the Lady Patriots in the first set, trading points back and forth. However, ENMU manufactured a three-point streak to take a 24-22 advantage after kills by Gannon and Nelson. Gannon would emphasize the set with the final kill taking the first set, 25-22. Gannon picked up six kills in the opening stanza.

Set number two saw the Patriots fight to an early 7-2 lead, only for the Greyhounds to go on a 11-3 run to take a 13-10 lead. Neither team was able to separate from each other, until DBU powered two late kills to take the second set 25-23.

With the scored locked at 4-4 in the third set, Eastern tacked on four straight points to bring the score to 8-4, forcing a DBU timeout. After the break, the Lady Patriots came back to tie the score at 11-11. From there, DBU strung together a 14-6 run to take the third set 25-17 and gain a 2-1 set lead.

Both teams continued to battle in the forth set. However, DBU eventually rolled to a 13-7 lead. The Greyhounds fought their way back to within one point (15-16), but Lady Patriots closed out the set with a 9-1 streak, to earn the 3-1 match victory.

NOTABLE STATS

  • DBU notched 48 kills, with the Greyhounds finding 42 kills.
  • The Greyhounds were more effective defensively with 48 digs, compared to the Lady Patriots’ 45 digs.
  • Gannon lead the team in both kills (12), serve aces (3), and digs (12).
  • Stubbs and Mikaela Garvin were both substantial for the Greyhounds attack, contributing eight kills each.
  • Behind Gannon, McKinzie Davis provided 11 digs in defense.
  • Both Garvin and Jordan O’Connor-Dempseyeach contributed two blocks.
  • R. Sapiga lead the team in assists with 18, while Q. Sapiga was just behind with 14.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

  • The match up with Arkansas Tech was the first for the two schools since August, 30, 2002, when the Greyhounds defeated the Golden Suns, 3-0.
  • Prior to today, the ENMU volleyball team hadn’t seen regular competition in over 600 days.
  • Davis, Garvin, Nelson, O’Connor Dempsey, Amaia Martin, Eliana Luteru, Daejia Rodriguez, and Valrina Tauese all made their debuts for the Greyhounds.
  • Eastern returns to the court tomorrow Saturday, September 4, for matches against Westminster and No. 24 nationally-ranked Wayne State at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.