Zia Volleyball Team Drops Match at Texas Woman’s University
by ENMU Athletics
DENTON, TEXAS— Jessica King (So., MB, Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate HS) and Veronica Valdez-Kent (Jr., OH, Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) combined for 26 kills and seven blocks, but the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team (4-13; LSC 0-3) dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 14-25, 25-20, 19-25) decision to Texas Woman’s University (9-8; LSC 2-1) in Lone Star Conference action, Thursday night at Kitty Magee Arena.
The Pioneers charged to a 5-1 lead and never trailed on the way to a 25-18 first set victory. In the second set, the Zias scored four of the first five points and extended a 6-5 lead to two points on a Megan Carpenter (Fr., RS, Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) kill, but TWU used an 11-3 run to seize a 16-10 lead and pulled away for a 25-14 win. Eastern hit for a .455 attack percentage in the set, with just two errors in 22 attempts.
With the third set knotted at 8-all, the Zias took the lead for good on a Megan LongoriaMadison Rhoades (Fr., OH, Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho HS) (Fr., MB, Del Valle, Texas/Del Valle High School). Eastern led by as many as five points, but TWU trimmed a 17-12 deficit down to just 20-19 on a Luna McClung kill. After a kill followed by a Texas Woman’s attack error, the Pioneers called for a timeout, trailing 22-19. Following the timeout, the teams traded the next three points, before a Valdez-Kent kill closed out the set for a 25-20 ENMU win.
Texas Woman’s took an early 7-3 lead in the fourth set, but a Valdez Kent kill started a Zia rally which trimmed the deficit to just one point, 11-10. The Pioneers regained the momentum at that point, using a 7-1 run to begin pulling away for the 25-19 win to end the match.
Caitlin Murphy’s (Sr., L, Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa HS) 25 digs marked her sixth consecutive match with at least 24 digs, while she also had two service aces in the contest. King hit a season-best .458 with 12 kills and six blocks, while Valdez-Kent had a team-best 14 kills along with eight digs. Carpenter contributed nine kills, while Karen McIntyre (Jr., S, Houston, Texas/J. Frank Dobie HS) had 40 assists and three blocks. Alyson Harlan paced TWU with 11 kills, 11 digs and five service aces.
The Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team will continue their Texas road trip on Saturday afternoon, when they visit Texas A&M-Commerce. Match time is set for 1 p.m. MST.
