The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team wrapped up their opening weekend of action with two tough losses at the hands of Lubbock Christian and no. 10 Rockhurst.
Eastern dropped their morning match to Lubbock Christian by a final total of 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 23-25, 24-26) and their afternoon match to Rockhurst by a final total of 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 15-25, 18-25). Those results brought the Hounds record at the 2018 BritKare Lady Buff Classic to 0-4, but displayed a lot of young talent that the Greyhounds will look to develop and provide experience to throughout the season.
Sophomore Jasmine Gannon put together another solid day on the court with 29 total kills between the two matches. The Clovis native posted 10 or more kills in all four matches over the weekend while also recording a double-double against Adams State in the afternoon Friday match.
Gannon got off to a quick start in Saturday morning’s match with Lubbock Christian with six of her 14 kills coming in the opening set to lead Eastern to a 25-22 victory in set number one. After losing the first two sets in both matches on Friday, the solid start in Saturday’s first match was a welcomed sight for head coach Sia Poyer.
A balanced second set of action quickly ensued between the Hounds and the Chaps as the scoring differential never reach more than three points throughout the frame. A costly service error for the Chaps at the 25-24 mark evened up the score at 25 apiece, but two critical kills from Lubbock Christian secured themselves a 27-25 victory to even the match up at 1-1.
A quick 5-1 start in the second set for the Chaps forced an Eastern timeout to regroup, which was answered with a 7-3 run in favor of the Hounds to bring the deficit back down to one. A service ace from junior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner, followed by a kill from Gannon, finally evened the set at 12-12.
Tuioti-Mariner led the squad with 20 kills for the match and posted the third highest hitting percentage of her career (.409) as well.
Both teams continued to press all the way to the end of the set, during which time Eastern was unable to capitalize on a late 23-20 lead and saw the Chaps rattle off five consecutive points to secure a 25-23 third set victory. The Hounds handled the late rally from the Chaps well, but once again were unable to cash in on a late lead in the fourth, allowing the Chaps to put together three-straight kills to secure the set and the match.
The Hounds bested Lubbock Christian in multiple statistical categories including hitting percentage (.209) and errors (21-to-29), but couldn’t manage to close out the opponent when needed.
Eastern opened up their first match with a nationally ranked opponent of the season with a 25-22 first set victory over the number 10 nationally ranked Hawks. The Hounds continued to battle the undefeated squad all the way down to the wire in the second set, but ultimately surrendered a 25-21 decision.
That second set victory lit a fire under Rockhurst as they finished off an undefeated tournament with 25-15 and 25-18 victories in the third and fourth sets to take the match. Eastern was just one of two squads to take a set victory over the Hawks over the course of the tournament.
The Hounds will look ahead to their next tournament next weekend in Austin, Texas with games scheduled against Purdue-Northwest, Colorado State-Pueblo, and St. Edward’s.
