HOUSTON – A five-match losing streak was snapped in five sets by the East Texas A&M University volleyball team on Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym, defeating Houston Christian by set scores of 24-26, 25-23, 25-15, 17-25, 15-8.
The Lions closed the match by hitting .563 with nine kills and no errors in the fifth set. East Texas A&M posted a hitting percentage of .256 for the match, exceeding its season average of 0.22.
The win improves the Lions to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in Southland play. They have moved to 3-1 in four-set matches this year. The Huskies are 2-12 overall and 0-2 in Southland play.
The opening set stayed tight early, with the Lions getting kills from
Sediong Scott (Houston – Elsik),
Gracie Campbell (Klein Oak) and
Samantha Mosley (Atlanta) to pull even before HCU scored five of six points from an 11-11 tie to move ahead 16-12.
The Lions answered with six straight points, starting with a Mosley kill and continuing through serving run from
Katelyn Pritchard (McAllen) that included a Campbell kill and two Pritchard aces, to take an 18-16 lead. The Huskies came back to go in front 20-19, and a kill from
Ariana Brown (Conroe) tied it at 20-20 as the teams traded points to 22-22. HCU reached set point at 24-22, but Mosley's kill and a Huskie attack error tied it at 24-24 before they took the final two points for a 26-24 set win.
The Huskies built an 8-4 lead in the second, but the Lions answered with a
Haley Mullaney (Decatur) kill,
Rendi Fetty (Farmersville) ace, HCU attack error and
Allie Ihloff (Tulsa, Okla.) kill to tie the set at 8-8. The teams traded points through 14-14 before the Lions moved in front on a HCU attack error and an ace from
Jill Vinal (A&M-Consolidated), only for the Huskies to pull even again at 16-16. After Campbell put the Lions back ahead, kills by Brown and Ihloff-Scott block and a Huskie bad set helped stretch the margin to 21-17. HCU cut a 24-20 deficit to 24-23, but Campbell finished the set with a kill from Mullaney to give the Lions a 25-23 win.
The Lions opened the third set with three points on HCU errors, but they tied it at 3-3. After the Huskies closed to 6-5, the Lions used kills from Brown and Ihloff to build a 10-5 lead, and the advantage grew to 15-7 behind three Brown kills and two from Mullaney. The teams traded points through much of the next stretch, with Mosley, Campbell and Brown supplying kills as the Lions reached 22-12 on a HCU attack error. Mullaney made it 23-13, Brown's kill from Mullaney put the Lions at set point at 24-14, and Campbell finished the set 25-15 with a kill from Mullaney.
The Lions opened the fourth set with kills from Mosley and Scott around a Huskie error to lead 4-2, but HCU answered with kills to move in front 5-4 before the teams traded points to 7-7. After Mullaney tied it at 7-7, HCU scored four straight for an 11-7 lead; Scott and Campbell helped the Lions cut it to 11-9 before HCU rebuilt the margin to 14-9. The Huskies pushed the set to 19-12 during another four-point stretch that included a Barger kill and a Lions setting error, and although Vinal and Brown put down kills as the Lions got back to 20-15, HCU reached set point at 24-16 and closed the set 25-17.
The Lions traded the first four points of the fifth set before Mosley's second kill and Vinal's service ace helped move the visitors in front 4-2. Vinal later set up Campbell for a kill, and after a HCU point, Campbell, Mullaney and Fetty's ace pushed the Lions' lead to 10-3. The Huskies answered with three straight kills, but the Lions stopped the stretch on an Ihloff kill and kept their margin at five points or more. Scott's kill made it 13-8, and Brown served back-to-back aces to close the fifth set 15-8.
Brown led the Lions with 14 kills, hitting .306 and adding two service aces. Mosley recorded 13 kills on a .500 hitting percentage with one block assist. Mosley's 13 kills marked a season-high for her.
Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) posted a team-high 25 digs and added six assists, achieving at least 25 digs in two consecutive games. Mullaney finished with 21 assists, nine kills, eight digs and one block assist. Vinal recorded a season-high 22 assists.
Jordyn Wacaster (Wylie East) achieved a career-high total of 11 digs.
Campbell recorded 13 or more kills for two consecutive matches, while the Lions served up nine aces, exceeding their season average of 8.29.
UP NEXT
The Lions host LSU New Orleans on Thursday at 5 p.m. to begin a four-match homestand on the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House.
-ETAMU-
