The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team will look to get back into the win column as they host arch-rival West Texas A&M Tuesday, at 6 p.m. inside rowdy Greyhound Stadium.
Scouting the Buffs
The Lady Buffs enter the contest after defeating Lubbock Christian in straight sets before falling to #21 Angelo State 3-0.
WT boasts a well-balanced squad as they rank third in the Lone Star Conference with a .253 hitting percentage and limit teams to a .162 hitting percentage, the fourth lowest mark in the league. The Lady Buffs are extremely efficient playing the ball off the serve as they have surrendered a league-best 45 service aces.
Freshman outside hitter Torrey Miller has had a fantastic start to her collegiate career as she leads the conference with 249 kills averaging a staggering 4.22 per set. Senior middle blocker Lindsey Smith has recorded 150 kills on an extremely efficient .355 attacking percentage, which ranks fourth amongst conference competitors. Smith also leads the squad with 38 blocks.
Setters Gabby Emery and Sadie Snay lead the Buffs offense as they have tallied 282 and 279 assists, respectively. Defensively, WT will lean on junior libero Chandler Vogel as she ranks third in the LSC with 328 digs while her 21 service aces are tied for the seventh-highest mark.
History with the Buffs
West Texas A&M enters the match with a commanding 75-19 all-time series lead and defeated the Hounds in straight sets earlier this month when ENMU traveled to Canyon. Eastern has battled hard recently and has staged a minor turnaround with four victories in the last ten games between the two squads.
The Hounds perform much better inside Greyhound Stadium as 15 of their 19 victories over the Buffs have come in front of the Greyhound faithful.
It’s Turn Around Time
The Hounds face an almost must-win situation this week if they hope to keep their postseason hopes alive and enter the weekend in sixth place in their division. Eastern currently sits seven wins behind division leader Angelo State and three behind fourth place Lubbock Christian. The top four teams from each division receive bids to the tournament.
Following the weekday rivalry game against WT, the Hounds will host a pair of home games next weekend against division foes Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin which will provide ENMU with a fantastic opportunity to climb the LSC standings.
Block Party
In their 3-1 loss to Lubbock Christian last week, the Hounds tallied 14 total blocks as they finished with the fifth-highest mark in a four-set match throughout the entire Lone Star. Leading the way was freshman middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs who finished with a career high eight total blocks (three solo, five assists).
New Kids on the Block
Stubbs is currently second on the squad with 27 blocks and has recorded at least one in nine of her 13 games.
Freshman Qitana Spaiga has provided a fresh option off of the bench for interim head coach Katie Burnett. Sapiga has recorded 175 assists on the season and finished with a personal best 24 in the victory against Midwestern State last week.
