DENTON, Texas (Oct. 26, 2018) – Texas Woman's won its second consecutive match with a sweep of UT Permian Basin, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19, Friday to open its last home stand of the regular season.
"[UTPB] is a really good volleyball team that we beat tonight," TWU head coach Jeff Huebner said. "They beat us at their place, so we knew we really needed to come to work and play with great toughness, and it's obvious we got that from our players tonight."
Juniors Courtney and Caroline Noel took charge in the first set, getting nine and eight kills respectively with attack percentages above .500. UTPB's front line put up some significant challenges to TWU, keeping competition tight throughout the set, but the Noel twins would lead TWU (16-11, 8-9 Lone Star) to set point with a pair of service aces and kill. A Falcon service error ended the set in the Pioneers' favor, 25-22.
"Blocks were a struggle early, but I think that we really did a great job of identifying where we can score points and going back to the well as often as we could to get things out of it," Huebner said. "Credit to [Katy] Ranes and our hitters who stayed consistent with us and made good decisions on the ball. Even when it didn't feel great, it was exactly what we needed."
The Pioneers tightened up their performance in the second set, picking up their hitting percentage from .154 to .167, and making some significant plays against the Falcons. The set seemed locked down when TWU went on a 9-0 run that included junior Maggie Pyles on serve for eight points. An attack error halted the streak that TWU had stretched to a 15-9 lead. Battling to stay ahead, the Pioneers found themselves up, 21-20, and put the offense in motion once again. Courtney Noel got a kill followed by a pair of kills from freshman Taylor Frederick, and at set point, Caroline Noel got the set-ending kill at 25-20.
"[Pyles] has been one of the best servers in the conference all year," Huebner said. "We count on her back there. She was great for us against Midwestern State and then great again today. She's starting to really be incredibly confident back there so we're getting really excited about the level she is playing at every day."
The Falcons (12-13, 7-9 LSC) continued to challenge the Pioneers at the net in the third set, keeping the score close through most of the frame while TWU searched for openings on its front line. Good receptions and defensive choices by Pyles, junior Bailey French and Ranes kept UTPB from landing too many attacks. Tied at 14, Frederick powered one to put TWU up for good. Two service aces from Pyles gave the Pioneers game point at 24-17, and despite some rallying by UTPB, Courtney Noel got her game-high 16thkill off the assist from Ranes for the 25-17 set win and the sweep.
The Pioneers' hitting percentage overall was .195 to the Falcons' .130. Courtney Noel, who has totaled 16 kills in a game three times this season, had the top hitting percentage at .538. Caroline Noel recorded a .524 hitting percentage and had 12 kills.
"Our outsides powered through a really tough couple of sets that kept us in it, but Courtney and Caroline both had incredible numbers," Huebner added. "This is the second match in a row where they've both been incredible for us."
French had another strong defensive performance with 16 digs and continues to average more than 5.0 digs per set. Ranes brought in another consecutive double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs. She remains the LSC leader in assists with 1,049 on the year leading to an average of 11.04 assists per set.
"Forty-two assists in three sets is a really big number to go along with 13 digs," Huebner said. "She's really playing great right now and I feel like we're peaking at the right time."
The final regular season game is Saturday at 2 p.m. against Western New Mexico (9-6, 5-11 LSC). The lone senior on the squad, Makayla Mayfield of Decatur, Texas, will be honored during Senior Day festivities.
