DENTON, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team dropped matches to Sioux Falls (8-25, 22-25, 25-27) and Harding (16-25, 12-25, 18-25) during the first day of the Pioneer/Patriot Invitational.
The Hounds faced two tough opponents and both the Cougars and the Bison turned in extremely efficient days as both had hitting percentages over .400. USF had a combined hitting percentage of .441 and finished with 19 service aces while Harding hit .416 on 89 total attacks.
In the final set of the morning game, the Hounds looked to find an offensive rhythm as they jumped out to a 20-14 advantage capped off by a kill from senior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner. The Cougars went on a late run of their own after tying the match at 25 and eventually took the set. Tuioti-Mariner led the team with nine kills and finished with the second highest total of the game. Sophomore Rebekah spencer added three aces of her own while sophomore Rae Sapiga led the squad in the assist column with 10.
Eastern struggled again in the afternoon game and were held to a .222 hitting percentage. Junior Jasmine Gannon tallied a team-best eight kills and four digs while setter Rae Sapiga added nine assists.
ENMU will take the floor tomorrow looking for better results as they wrap up the tournament with a pair of games against Pace at 10 a.m. and Oklahoma Baptist at 1 p.m.
