The Eastern New Mexico volleyball program wrapped up a tough week on as the Hounds fell to Angelo State 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon.
It was a challenging week for the Greyhounds (8-16, 6-10 Lone Star Conference) as they had to face three of the top four teams in the Lone Star on the road.
In the opening set, the Hounds were able to stick with the Rams (19-7, 12-4 LSC) as sophomore middle blocker Julie Tucker tallied a kill to tie the set up at 4-all and gave the Hounds the lead on the next play on a solo block. However, the Rams were able to retaliate with a 12-3 run to grab a 16-8 lead.
Eastern battled back with a 4-1 run featuring a pair of kills by Christelle Kialanda and Jasmine Gannon cut the deficit to five at 17-12. Unfortunately, Angelo State put together a strong run at the end of the set, rattling off six consecutive points during an 8-2 run to close out with the 25-14 win.
The second set started off in a similar fashion. With the Hounds trailing 5-4, Eastern tied the set up at five on a Tucker solo block and then Tucker and Lauryn Bresnahan split a block to give ENMU the lead. However, the Hounds once again couldn’t stop a potent Rams offense from rattling off a 9-1 run, which included a streak of six straight to reclaim a 14-7 advantage.
Senior middle blocker Jennifer Martinez and Kialanda recorded back-to-back kills to try to cut into the deficit, but the Rams answered with four straight to take their largest lead of the set at 18-9 and would maintain their lead to hold on to a 25-16 set two win.
Eastern managed to get off to a strong start in the third set as the Hounds scored eight of the first 13 points. With the set tied at 4-all, the Hounds put together 3-0 run, backed by kills by Tucker and senior Taylor Gikas as well as an assisted block between the two to claim their largest lead at 7-4. Angelo State rallied with a 4-1 run to tie the set up at 8-all and the two teams battled back and forth during the midway portion of the set.
Neither team could grab more than a two-point lead as the Hounds final lead came on a Gannon kill to make it 13-12. ASU managed to string together another rally, scoring six consecutive points to regather an 18-13 edge. The Hounds tried to stick with the Rams late in the set, as a Martinez kill cut the deficit to just four at 21-17. However, the Rams strung together four straight to close out the set.
Offensively, Gannon led the Hounds with 10 kills while senior setter Kaitlyn Kluna finished with a team-high 11 assists.
On the defensive end, Tucker had a fantastic match at the net, tying a season-best seven blocks while senior libero Alba Ontiveros led the backline with 13 digs.
Eastern will close out its four-match road trip next week as the Hounds will travel to Silver City, N.M. on Oct. 23 to try to get the series sweep against Western New Mexico. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
