DENTON, Texas (October 11, 2023) – Behind a season high team hitting percentage of .483, the Texas Woman's volleyball team recorded their third straight Lone Star Conference sweep in Kitty Magee Arena on Wednesday night, defeating Lubbock Christian.
 
TWU (13-4, 5-1) continued to build upon their best start to LSC action since 2015, improving to 5-1 with the win over LCU (12-6, 4-4).
 
"This past week, our program put in very important work to improve and develop," TWU Volleyball Head Coach Jeff Huebner said. "Tonight, we demonstrated our focus and commitment to excellence well, as we played a really tough LCU team. Kaia had a great match, paired with Grace and Kiana being terrific decision makers. We are looking forward to our road trip this weekend as we continue to develop in league play."
 
Across just three sets of play, the Pioneers recorded 51 kills, hitting 20 back-to-back in sets one and two. While they held LCU to just 30 kills, the Lady Chaps hit .262 across the match.
 
With the stellar offensive play from TWU, the Pioneers currently sit at No. 2 in the LSC in hitting percentage, averaging .253 on the season.
 
Leading the offensive charge for the Pioneers tonight was Kaia Saylor, who finished with a match high and season high 20 kills. Saylor hit .704 across 27 attacks, recording a career high match hitting percentage. The senior outside hitter also finished the night with two blocks and four digs.
 
Kady Hansen and Cara Pool also led the explosive scoring for the Pioneers, closing the match with eight kills each. The middle blocker pair hit .636 and .615 respectively against LCU, and both average .387 on the season to rank second and third in LSC. Pool, who's been slightly more efficient than Hansen, with 145 kills on 284 attacks, received the second place edge over Hansen with 151 kills on 305 attacks.
 
TWU once again dominated in the ace category, recording their third straight match and fifth match all season with 10 or more aces. Against the Lady Chaps, the Pioneers totaled 11 perfect serves. Tori Woods and Luna França led the way for TWU – both matching their season highs with four aces.  
 
The number four seemed to be França's lucky number in the match, as she finished the match with four aces, 14 digs and four points. The double-digit digs marks França's 16th match in a row with 10 or more digs. Joining the double-digit dig party was Woods, who finished the night with 10 digs to mark her eighth match this season with 10 or more digs.
 
As the Pioneers hit their highest hitting percentage all season, they could not have achieved the mark without the good decision making and solid setting of the pair of Pioneer setters – Grace Reynolds and Kiana Reed. The pair combined for 50 total assists – the most in a three set win for the Pioneers this season.

Reynolds led the way with a career high 34 assists, marking her third match this season with 30 or more assists. Kiana Reed also recorded a double-digit assist mark, finishing the night with 14 assists.
 
As a team, the Pioneers currently rank third in the LSC in assists, averaging 12.89 per set.
 
After not playing since last Wednesday, TWU took the start of set one to shake off the game break and find their groove; nevertheless, it was evident they were locked in and ready to win the match.
 
After a 5-0 run by LCU that had them leading 12-6, the Pioneers worked to battle back in front. Trailing by three, 19-16, TWU scored four unanswered points to find their first lead since 3-2. A kill by Saylor gave the Pioneers the 20-19 advantage. The Lady Chaps gained some life with back-to-back kills to lead 22-21, before the Pioneers finally placed the exclamation point on the end of the set.

Four straight points by TWU would be the exciting end to set one, as a kill by Eduarda Dutra gave the Pioneers the 25-22 win and the early 1-0 match lead.
 
With all the momentum on their side, the Pioneers utilized the high energy in KMA to open set two with back-to-back kills by Cara Pool to take the 2-0 lead. An ace by França would extend the Pioneers' lead to 5-2. The scoring would go back-and-forth for much of the set, until TWU created some distance with three straight points to take the 21-15 advantage.
 
The Lady Chaps would score two more points before back-to-back kills by Saylor and an ace by França would set up set point for the Pioneers, 24-17. Then, Hansen would have the final say in set two with the strong kill to give TWU the 2-0 match lead with the set two win, 25-18.
 
Set three was a TWU scoring frenzy, as the Pioneers soared to the win. Behind two aces for França, the Pioneers opened set three with a 9-1 advantage. TWU would then ride that run to a dominating set three performance, not allowing LCU to find much room to score.
 
A late 5-0 run would give TWU the 19-7 lead. An LCU service error and a kill by Kenn Jean-Louis set up match point for the Pioneers. The Lady Chaps would score one more point before the crowd was electrified by a match ending Erin Jones' kill, as TWU won set three 25-13 and completed the sweep of the Lady Chaps.
 
With the quick sweep on Wednesday, the win marked the second time the Pioneers swept LCU this season.
 
TWU will go on the road for their next match. First, they will face Cameron on Friday, October 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Hear from TWU Volleyball Head Coach Jeff Huebner after the win: https://youtu.be/1P6LNGtDkIg