The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team had a tough start to its four-match road stretch as the Hounds dropped a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) match to West Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
The Lady Buffs jumped out to the early lead in the first set. With both teams tied at two, WTAMU rattled off four straight to take a 6-2 advantage. The Hounds managed to cut the deficit down to two, scoring three of the next four points off kills by Jennifer Martinez and Christelle Kialanda, followed by a Rae Sapiga service ace to make it 7-5. However, the Lady Buffs put together another strong run, scoring five straight to stretch the advantage to seven at 12-5.
West Texas A&M continued to build upon the lead during the midway portion of the set, outscoring the Hounds 11-6 to take their largest lead at 23-11. Eastern managed to fight back with three consecutive points on kills by Lauryn Bresnahan and Jaedynn Devoux, as well as an assisted block by Devoux and Julie Tucker, cutting the deficit to nine. However, WTAMU tallied two of the final three points to hand Eastern a 25-15 defeat in set one.
After dropping the first two points of the second set, the Hounds rallied with a 5-1 run that featured a pair of kills by Jasmine Gannon and one for Kialanda to grab the early 5-3 edge. The Hounds and Lady Buffs traded blows to make it 6-4, but WTAMU responded with a 6-2 run to retake a two-point lead at 10-8.
The Hounds retaliated with a 7-2 run that included kills by Bresnahan, Martinez, Gannon, and Kialanda to claim the lead back at 15-12. Unfortunately, the Lady Buffs took back the advantage for good by scoring 11 unanswered points during a 13-1 run to close out the 25-16 win in the second set.
Upon giving up the first point, Eastern hot off to a hot start in set three as the Hounds rattled off four of the next five with kills from Martinez and Gannon to make it a 4-2 lead for the Hounds. However, the Lady Buffs rallied with four straight to reclaim a 6-4 edge, forcing Greyhounds head coach Sia Poyer to call a timeout.
The Lady Buffs expanded their advantage to three at 12-9 before the Hounds nabbed three consecutive points on kills by Taylor Roberts and Gannon to make it 12-all. West Texas A&M took its lead back with a 4-1 run, forcing the Hounds to call their final timeout of the set. Eastern tried to battle back; taking three of the next four points to make it a 17-16 deficit, but the Hounds could climb no closer as West Texas A&M held on to win the set 25-21 to complete the sweep.
Martinez led the Eastern attack with eight kills on a .438 hitting percentage while Kaitlyn Kluna notched her 10th double-double on the season with 20 assists and 11 digs. Senior libero Alba Ontiveros led the ENMU backline with 20 digs, her season-high for a three-set match.
The Hounds will now seek out a huge upset as they will head to Stephenville, Texas to take on No. 13 Tarleton State at 5 p.m. on Friday.
