DENTON – The East Texas A&M University volleyball lost to West Virginia 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at North Texas Volleyball Center in the first match of the UNT Invitational via set scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-21, and 25-20.
The Lions moved in front 5-2 in the opening set behind early West Virginia errors and a
Sediong Scott (Houston – Elsik) service ace, but West Virginia answered with six straight points to go ahead 8-5. After WVU held a 9-6 lead, the Lions put together four consecutive points, with
Ariana Brown (Conroe) finishing the stretch with a kill from
Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) for a 10-9 edge.
The teams traded points through a 13-13 tie before the Mountaineers scored three straight to move ahead 16-13, and the Lions got kills from
Haley Mullaney (Decatur),
Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak) and
Sabine Wenzel (Melrose, Mass.) later in the set. The Mountaineers took nine of the final 12 points from a 16-14 score line and closed the set 25-17.
West Virginia opened the second set with the first three points, before the Lions worked back to 4-4 on an ace from
Jill Vinal (A&M-Consolidated). After the Mountaineers went back in front 8-6, the Lions scored three straight on a service error, a bad set, and Mullaney's kill from Vinal to move ahead 9-8, then later used kills by
Allie Ihloff (Tulsa, Okla.), Brown,
Samantha Mosley (Atlanta) and Mullaney to build a 17-12 lead.
Brown added a kill and Wenzel followed with a block to make it 19-13, and after WVU got within 24-21, a block by Wenzel ended the set 25-21 for the Lions.
The Lions built a 4-1 lead in the third set behind kills from Mosley and Wenzel, a West Virginia bad set, and a block by Ihloff and Brown, but the Mountaineers came back to tie it at 4-4. West Virginia later broke a 9-9 tie and moved in front 15-10. The Lions trimmed the deficit to 16-14 on a Brown kill, a West Virginia service error, and a Washington kill, then later pulled even at 19-19. WVU went back ahead 21-19, and although Brown's kill from Mullaney made it 23-21, the Mountaineers recorded the next two kills to close the set 25-21.
West Virginia put the Lions in an early 3-0 hole in the fourth. Brown, Ihloff and Mosley had kills as the Lions traded points, but WVU pushed the margin to 13-7 and later to 16-9. The Lions cut the West Virginia lead to 18-15 on back-to-back Wenzel kills, only for West Virginia to answer with a two straight points to lead 20-15.
Down the stretch, the Lions got kills from Ihloff and Brown and reached 24-20, but the Mountaineers closed out the match on a kill.
Brown led the Lions with 13 kills, adding two aces and two blocks. Washington collected 17 digs and added four assists and has recorded at least 17 digs in three consecutive matches. Mullaney finished with 19 assists, seven digs and three kills. Wenzel recorded six kills on a .308 hitting percentage and added three blocks. She has recorded at least three total blocks in 10 consecutive matches.
The Lions are 6-5 overall, having lost four of their last five, while the Mountaineers are 5-3 overall. This match marked the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
POST MATCH INTERVIEW
UP NEXT
The Lions take on rival Tarleton Friday at 4 p.m. in Denton as part of the UNT Invitational.
-ETAMU-
