CANYON, TEXAS – Eastern New Mexico fell to West Texas A&M by a final score of 3-0 (17-25, 16-25, 15-25) on Tuesday night in Canyon, Texas.
Eastern never led in any set after the fourth point and struggled to maintain pace with an efficient West Texas A&M offense. Junior Jasmine Gannon led the Hounds with eight kills and eight digs while senior Lauryn Bresnahan put down six kills on just 10 swings to post a hitting percentage of .400 for the match.
The Hounds kept pace with their arch-rival throughout the majority of the first set, but couldn’t hold off a late charge that saw West Texas A&M put together a 7-1 run to close out the 25-17 victory. Eastern New Mexico responded to the late charge in the opening set by jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but quickly lost momentum and trailed by as many as 20-12 before falling by a 25-16 final.
The Greyhounds fell behind early in the third set 11-3 and couldn’t mount a late-set comeback, falling 25-15 in the third set. Eastern hit .150 as a team for the match and posted just 31 kills to West Texas’ 49 kills.
Freshman Qitana Sapiga led the way with 14 assists while classmate Gracelyn Stubbs had five kills alongside senior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner, who pitched in seven digs as well.
Eastern New Mexico will return home on Friday night for match scheduled against Texas Woman’s at 6 p.m.
