Game Recap: Women’s Volleyball | | Cameron Brennan
Eastern New Mexico Volleyball were held 3-0 against West Texas A&M on Wednesday evening in a Lone Star Conference (LSC) match. ENMU falls to 1-4 in LSC play, while the Lady Buffs boost their conference record to 4-1.
Each team began the game trading points in the first set. The Greyhounds were the first to establish a small lead at 12-9 after a block from McKinzie Davis and Jordan O’Connor-Dempsey. The Buffaloes responded quickly, surging to a 15-13 lead. From then, the Lady Buffs capitalized on two blocks and some Greyhound errors to take a 20-16 lead. ENMU jumped back into the set with a Jasmine Gannon kill followed by a solo block from O’Connor-Dempsey, then Gannon and O’Connor-Dempsey combined for a block, 21-19 WT. West Texas A&M hung on to take the first set 25-21.
The Hounds began the second set with the opening two points, but the Lady Buffs responded with a 7-2 stretch, giving the home team a 7-4 lead. Eastern continued to cut down the Buffs lead and tied the set at 16-16, following Gracelyn Stubbs finding a kill then linking up with Davis for a block. West Texas replied with eight straight points, to take the largest lead of the set by any team, 24-16. WT eventually closed out the set 25-17, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third stanza, the Lady Buffs took an early 5-2 lead, but ENMU responded quickly bringing the score back to 9-8 WT. Eastern imposed themselves in the set, sparking a 5-1 run to take a 13-10 lead. The five points consisted of two Mikaela Garvin kills, and Adriana Puni assisting two blocks alongside Gannon and Kali Nelson. The Buffs quickly responded, retaking the lead off the back of a 9-3 run, forcing an ENMU timeout at 19-16 WT. After the timeout, Eastern brought themselves within two points at 21-19 following a Nelson kill. However, the Buffaloes closed out the night on a 4-1 streak, taking down the Greyhounds 25-20 in the final set, and 3-0 in the match.
NOTABLE STATS
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West Texas A&M produced more kills on the night, 34-30, but the Hounds had 10 blocks while WT only found nine blocks.
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Stubbs led the Hounds offense with nine kills, with Garvin next best with seven kills on the evening.
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Rae Sapiga found 14 assists, with Qitana Sapiga suppling 10 assists.
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Gannon was the defensive leader with eight digs, Davis added six digs to the Hounds effort.
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O’Connor-Dempsey gathered four total blocks, while Gannon, Stubbs, and Puni all added three total blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
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ENMU will host its annual Alumni match on Friday, Oct 1, at 5:30 p.m. in Greyhound Arena as part of Eastern New Mexico’s Homecoming weekend.
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The Greyhounds have some time to regroup before their next contest. ENMU returns to the floor at St. Edward’s University, on Friday, Oct. 7, in a road conference clash. The match is set to start at 5 p.m.