The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team had No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce on the ropes after taking the first two sets, but the Hounds could not hold off a furious Lions comeback, falling 3-2 (25-19, 27-25, 18-25, 13-25, 8-15) on Saturday afternoon.
In the first set, the two teams traded the first 14 points as neither team could garner more than a two-point advantage as the Lions tied the match up at seven. The Hounds were able to get a little bit of separation as a pair of Jennifer Martinez kills and a kill by Christelle Kialanda gave Eastern a 10-7 advantage. After a service error, the Hounds got back on-track with a Jaedynn Devoux kill to make it 11-8, forcing TAMUC to call a timeout.
The Lions managed to cut the lead to 12-10, but the Hounds put together a strong run by scoring seven of the next nine points, a run that featured a trio of kills for Julie Tucker and a pair of kills from Lauryn Bresnahan to take their largest lead of the set at 19-12. Commerce put together a 5-2 run to cut the Hounds lead to 21-17, forcing ENMU head coach Sia Poyer to call a timeout. Eastern finished the set strong coming out of the timeout as the Hounds closed out the set with a 4-2 run as all four points came off kills by Martinez, Kialanda and Tucker while Jasmine Gannon’s set point kill gave the Hounds the 25-19 win.
The Eastern attack was incredibly efficient in opening set as the Hounds recorded a season-high 21 kills on a blistering .463 attack percentage. It was the most kills Eastern had tallied in one set since Sept. 30, 2017 when the Hounds put together a 20-kill fourth set in a 3-1 win over West Texas A&M.
The Hounds ended up doing quite a bit of chasing with big rallies in the second set. After ENMU fell behind 7-4 and scored a few points to cut the deficit back to one, Commerce scored five straight to get some separation at 12-6. The Hounds battled back by scoring four straight on kills by Gannon and Devoux to cut the deficit to just two. During the midway point of the set, the Lions outscored the Greyhounds 5-2, stretching their lead back to five at 17-12. However, the Hounds answered once again with three straight on a Kialanda kill and a Rebekah Spencer service ace, cutting the deficit back to two and forcing the Lions to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Lions started to get some separation once again and it appeared Commerce was going to win the second set after a Jaslyn Wacker kill made it set point at 24-19. However, the Hounds refused to go quietly as Eastern responded with one of its best rallies of the season. The Hounds survived four set points by scoring six straight. A kill by Bresnahan started the rally and was immediately followed by an assisted block by Bresnahan and Martinez, as well as back-to-back service aces by Alba Ontiveros made it 24-23, forcing the Lions to call a timeout. Upon returning to the court, a Commerce attack error tied the set up at 24-all and a Devoux kill put set point in favor of the Greyhounds. The Lions managed to draw the set back even at 25, but the Hounds finished on a high note with a kill by Martinez to make it set point once again and an assisted block by Martinez and Kialanda on the very next play allowed the Hounds to take set two 27-25 and take a two sets to none advantage in the match.
Eastern came out strong in the third set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead thanks to a pair of kills and a service ace by Martinez, two kills by Gannon and a kill by Bresnahan. However, the Lions took control of the set with a five-point rally to reclaim an 8-6 advantage. After the Hounds scored two of the next three to cut the deficit to 9-8, Commerce pulled away with a 10-3 run to grab an eight-point edge. ENMU could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Lions ran away with a 25-17 set three win.
In the fourth set, TAMUC jumped out to an early lead at 12-7, but Eastern chipped away with three straight to cut the Lions lead to two. However, the Lions retaliated with a 13-3 run to close out the set at 25-13, forcing a fifth set.
ENMU got off to a strong start in the final set as the Hounds took the first four points on a pair of Kialanda kills and an assisted block Gannon and Martinez, forcing TAMU to call a timeout. Upon returning to play, the Lions regrouped and rallied, rattling off five straight points of their own to take a 5-4 lead. A service error drew the set even once more, but the Lions once again scored five consecutive points to hold a 10-5 edge. The Greyhounds managed to cut the deficit back to four late in the set at 12-8, but Commerce scored the final three points to end the match.
Leading the Greyhound attack was Gannon with 12 kills while Martinez chipped in 11 kills, four blocks and three service aces. Setter Kaitlyn Kluna led the team with 24 assists while Ontiveros led the back line with a 29 digs, just one shy of tying her career-high of 30 that was set earlier this year against Purdue-Northwest.
Eastern will look to get back on-track next weekend as the Hounds will return home for a pair of homecoming matches. ENMU will open the homecoming festivities with a Friday night match against Cameron at 5 p.m. in Greyhound Arena.
