DENTON, Texas (Oct. 4, 2023) – Behind a season high 16 aces, the Texas Woman's volleyball team recorded their second sweep in row in Kitty Magee Arena, defeating Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday night.
 
TWU (12-4, 4-1) extended their best start since 2015 to Lone Star Conference play to 4-1 with their win over ENMU (8-10, 0-5). On Pack the House night in partnership with housing, the Pioneers recorded their second sweep in a row in KMA in front of a packed crowd. 
 
"Pack the House never disappoints," TWU Volleyball Head Coach Jeff Huebner said. "Fans tonight were treated to a solid performance across all phases of the game. Our team is committed to continuing to improve and grow in this part of season with the right focus. Our long-term commitment to the game plan and ability to solve most of our situational understanding on the court and between players is a very good sign of our learning process."
 
After recording a season high 11 aces in their last match against UT Permian Basin, the Pioneers brought their perfect serving energy into tonight's match. In just three sets, TWU connected on a season high 16 aces against ENMU – the most services aces in a single match in over 10 years.
 
With the 16 aces on Wednesday night, the Pioneers moved to No. 2 in service aces in the LSC, with 114 on the season and an average of 1.93 per set.
 
Grace Reynolds championed the Pioneers' serving success, finishing the match with a career high eight service aces. Four of her aces came in the opening points of the first set for the Pioneers, as Reynolds led a dominating 10-0 start to set one. With the dominating stat line tonight, Reynolds moved into first in the LSC in aces, averaging 0.54 per set and totaling 28 on the season. Also on the ace train, Eduarda Dutra matched her career high of four aces in the win, and Tori Woods and Luna França each added two.
 
In the win, the Pioneers dominated the offensive categories, finishing the night with 63 points, 45 kills and hit .264. TWU held the Greyhounds to just 25 kills on the night – their second lowest of any opponent this season. Additionally, the Pioneers allowed ENMU to score just 34 points, which matched the lowest of any TWU opponent this season as the Pioneers also held Oklahoma Christian on Sept. 14 to just 34 points.
 
Kaia Saylor led the offensive push for the Pioneers, finishing the night with 14 kills. Hitting .583 on the night with eight kills, Kady Hansen topped the Pioneer leader board in hitting percentage.
 
Setting the Pioneers up for success was their pair of setters – Reynolds and Kiana Reed. Reynolds led the way with 17 assists, and she also added 11 digs to record her eighth double-double of the season. Kiana Reed finished the night with 15 assists to guide the Pioneers to the sweep.
 
França recorded her 15th straight match with 10 or more digs, ending the match with 12.
 
The set one opening 10-0 run for the Pioneers at the serving hand of Reynolds set the tone for the entirety of the match, as the energy was high on the court and in the stands tonight in KMA.

TWU would never trail in set one. Back-to-back kills by Saylor set up set point for the Pioneers, 24-17, and a kill by Hansen off an assist from Reed brought the crowd to their feet and closed out the set, 25-17.
 
The Greyhounds found some life to start set two with a 3-0 run to lead by two early, 4-2. Nevertheless, the Pioneers kept their focus on the goal of winning the set and built the win point by point.
 
TWU reclaimed the lead off a kill by Malia Viernes, 8-7, which ignited a 4-0 run for the Pioneers. The run included two service aces from França to give TWU the four point advantage, 11-7. Although the points went back-and-forth for much of the second set, the Pioneers would maintain the lead from that point on.
 
Scoring three unanswered points would put the Pioneers ahead 21-15. After three points scored by the Greyhounds, back-to-back ENMU errors brought up set point for TWU, 24-18. Ready to put the exclamation point on the set, Saylor denied ENMU at the net to record a monster solo block to give the Pioneers the set two win, 25-19, putting TWU ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
Set three was knotted at five to start. Then, it was tied again quickly at nine each, before the Pioneers scored five unanswered points to claim the four point advantage, 14-10 – a run which included two aces by Reynolds, a kill by Viernes and two ENMU attack errors.
 
One point by the Greyhounds momentarily broke the TWU scoring streak, before the Pioneers quickly reclaimed the momentum to go on a 6-0 run to lead by nine, 20-11.
 
ENMU would score four more points in the match, before the Pioneers ended the match the way it started – with aces. Dutra closed set three with back-to-back aces to win the set, 25-15, and complete the sweep of the Greyhounds.
 
The Pioneers will be back in action in KMA for their next match on Oct. 11 against Lubbock Christian at 6 p.m.

Grace Reynolds and Kaia Saylor talk about the win over ENMU in a post-match interview here.