Volleyball | 9/3/2022 12:07:00 AM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DENTON, Texas (Sept. 2, 2022) – Today shall officially be known as two dub day for the Texas Woman's volleyball team.
TWU (3-3) swept their home opening weekend of the Denton Volleyfest, defeating Missouri Southern State (3-3) and Fort Hays State (4-2) both in four sets, 3-1.
The Pioneers rocked KMA and earned their first win of the day at 1 p.m. against the MSSU Lions.
Kaia Saylor, who showcased a stellar home opening performance, recorded 46 total attacks in the match, including 14 kills.
Sarah Lindley also had an explosive debut in KMA, recorded eight kills While Saylor and Lindley proved to be the lightning strike hitter,
Lizzy Reed was the one who set up the most strikes for the Pioneers in game one, ending the first match with 28 assists.
In digs, Yanley Pabon led the way for the Pioneers, finishing the match with 27 digs.
TWU finished the match with five aces, led by
Abbie Sprague with two.
Defense also proved to be really strong for the Pioneers. As a team, they notched 14 blocks.
Cara Pool and
Kiya Yeoman each finished with two solo blocks.
TWU started the first match off with a set one win, before turning a complete 360 and losing the second set 25-9. Despite the switch in Set 2, the Pioneers bounced back to win a close set three, 27-25. Finally, TWU was able to close out MSSU in the fourth set 25-21.
"I'm proud of our team for our approach to the match against MSSU," TWU head coach
Jeff Huebner said. "We had a very strong blocking performance from our team, which has been a focus in practice this week. This allowed some great defensive plays, which turned into some high-level offense for our team. Especially after a really poor second set, our mental toughness showed well to close out the match in four sets."
While the Pioneers had the next game off and did not play again until 7 p.m., they managed to keep the dub energy flowing.
Against the Fort Hays State Tigers, TWU again went to four sets, just to keep the fans interested.
The Pioneers came out strong early, winning set one 25-19 and set two 25-23. As they tried to close out the Tigers in three straight sets, the Pioneers faltered slightly, losing 25-21.
In the fourth and final set, TWU definitely kept it interesting. The Pioneers were down 21-14 in the set, before going on a seven-point run to even the score at 21 a-piece.
The final three points were a battle. With the set tied at 24, a kill from Saylor followed by a kill from
Tori Woods ended the match with the Pioneers, giving them their third win of 2022.
Saylor again led the Pioneers in kills, finishing with a season high 20.
Lizzy Reed assisted on 36 kills. Yeoman led TWU in blocks with four, and Pabon added 27 digs to lead the Pioneers in the match.
"Our match against Fort Hays State was a terrific match to be a part of," Huebner said. "Kudos to Fort Hays and our team for the constant adjustments and re-adjustments. We had some outstanding attacking performances, but the blocking of
Kiya Yeoman and defense of
Yanely Pabon really allowed our team to be in a place to be successful.
Lizzy Reed played another terrific match for us, and her hitters responded very well."
While TWU brought the energy on the court, the fans also filled the stands to cheer the Pioneers on to victory.
"It was so great to be back in KMA," Huebner said. "The number of fans was awesome, and the energy in the gym was terrific—it was exactly what our team needed. We are looking forward to having everyone back, and LOUD tomorrow at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Pioneers are back in action tomorrow night in KMA. They play Northwestern Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. and Ouachita Baptist at 7 p.m.
-PIONEERS-
