QUEENS, N.Y. — The New York Blues are no such thing for the East Texas A&M University volleyball team following a 3-1 win over the St. John's Red Storm on Saturday afternoon at the Carnesecca Arena as the Lions have now started 5-1 on the season.
The set scores on Saturday were 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, and 25-22. The Lions have won four in a row for the first time since 2022. Their 5-1 start to the season through six matches is the best start for any sport at East Texas A&M since moving up to NCAA Division I and the best start for the program since 2013. It was also the first time going undefeated at a tournament since 2013. St. John's is 4-2 overall.
The Lions built an 8-2 lead in the opening set as
Sediong Scott (Houston – Elsik) put down two early kills and
Jill Vinal (A&M-Consolidated) served consecutive aces. The Red Storm came back to tie the set at nine, and the teams continued trading points until the home side moved ahead 18-16. The Lions answered from there, tying the set at 18-18 and later taking a 21-19 lead on a St. John's attack error, a bad set and a
Sabine Wenzel (Melrose, Mass.) kill.
The Red Storm pulled even again at 22-22, but a kill by
Ariana Brown (Conroe) put the Lions back in front,
Jade Washington (Waco – Midway) followed with an ace for set point and a final attack error gave the Lions the set, 25-22.
In the second, St. John's built a 7-2 lead before the Lions pulled within 7-5 on a
Haley Mullaney (Decatur) kill and two Brown kills. The home side pushed the margin back to 15-10, but the Lions ran off eight straight points with
Rendi Fetty (Farmersville) serving, getting kills from Wenzel, two Mullaney blocks to move ahead 18-15.
The Lions stretched the advantage to 21-16 after a Brown kill, a Wenzel and Brown assisted block and then answered a late push that cut the margin to 22-20. A service error gave the Lions the serve back,
Samantha Mosley (Atlanta, Ga.) followed with a block, and another St. John's attack error closed a 25-20 set win.
The third set stayed even through nine as Scott, Brown and Wenzel put down kills for the Lions. The Red Storm broke from that tie with four straight points and later reached 19-13. Wenzel's kill,
Jade Washington's ace and a block by
Allie Ihloff (Tulsa, Okla.) and Scott started the Lions' push to 19-16, and Scott's kill with another Ihloff-Scott block later brought the Lions within 20-18.
The Red Storm stretched the margin to 23-20 and closed the set with a kill for a 25-23 St. John's win.
The Lions started the fourth set with Washington's ace and two St. John's attack errors for a 3-0 lead, but the Red Storm answered and moved in front 15-7. Mullaney's kill started the Lions back the other way, and Fetty served through a scoring run to cut the deficit to 15-12.
After St. John's pushed the margin back to 19-14, Mosley put down a kill and Brown served the Lions through five straight points, including two aces, to move ahead 20-19. The Red Storm later went up 22-21, but the Lions scored the final four points on a St. John's attack error, Mullaney's kill, a block by Ihloff and Wenzel, and an ace from
Semaj Cox (Missouri City – Elkins) to take the match 25-22.
Brown led the Lions with 12 kills and added 17 digs, two service aces and one block. Washington collected a team-high 21 digs and added three service aces. Mullaney finished with 24 assists, 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Mullaney set a season-high with 11 kills and maintained a streak of five consecutive games with at least 24 set assists. Mosley posted five total blocks, including a season-high of three solo blocks, and added five kills.
ET achieved a season-high 67 digs in the match. The team also totaled 12 blocks, surpassing their season average of 8.0, and registered 10 service aces, exceeding their season average of 8.8. The Lions maintained a streak of five consecutive matches with at least 44 set assists and recorded at least 46 kills in five consecutive games.
Brown was named the tournament MVP for her efforts throughout the weekend, while both Mullaney and Washington were named to the all-tournament team.
COACH JOE MORALES' THOUGHTS
Our match against St. John's was surreal. It was certainly the premiere match of the weekend and was definitely was going to test us a little bit. They are a very good team, they have really good hitters along the net. The size is really good, and their libero touches a lot of balls, but definitely had the confidence with our team and what we were able to do.
We did a really good job of serving the ball in that match, we wanted to be pretty aggressive in attacking them, but this became a really defensive game. I talked to our team, that this was going to be a gut check. This was going to be who blinks first. Our hitting percentage was similar. Neither team was extraordinary in hitting, even though we accumulated points. But it was something that we just kept at it and stayed calm."
"Our block was good early on and then came off a little bit, but then right when we needed it, it appeared again. We did a really good job, especially on that right side, controlling our outside hitters. But kudos to that team. It was a good team. We came ready to play. The girls were excited. They had a lot of fun. After the match, they even said that their adrenaline was going, their heart was pounding, but they stayed true to our game plan and what we wanted to do."
"Haley did a great job of attacking but also setting up some offense. Ariana, cannot say enough about her, she is dominant, she goes out and makes plays. Jade holding on to the backcourt, was good and excited about that. I am very excited to be where we're at right now. It was a great trip for us, for our experience, but also for our experience on the court. The teams there were good. In playing St. John's, who was one of the better teams out there, just physical and dominant, it was good."
"I'm proud of this team. We got to just keep it going. It was a fun match to coach and to be a part of. All the credit goes to the team and the effort and the hard work that they put in, but also the discipline that they obtained throughout the match. It fell in our favor, so kudos to them."
UP NEXT
The Lions play at the Roadrunner Invitational next weekend in San Antonio, facing IU Indianapolis and UTSA on Friday.
-ETAMU-
