College volleyball: WT beats ENMU in four

CANYON — Eastern New Mexico lost for the fourth time in five matches in Tuesday evening’s Lone Star Conference volleyball showdown at West Texas A & M. The Lady Buffs took down the Greyhounds in four sets, 25-22, 26-28, 25-17 and 25-15.

After dropping a tight opening set to the Buffs (12-9, 6-5 LSC), the Hounds (8-13, 5-6) rebounded for 28-26 victory in set No. 2. Eastern overcame a 10-3 deficit, early in the set, and actually broke a forgettable streak, in the process.

Prior to Tuesday’s second set, the Hounds hadn’t won a set at West Texas A&M since 2004. In the end, however, the Buffs were just too tough down the stretch, pulling away in each of the last two sets.

ENMU had just a .148 hitting percentage for the match, and did not connect at all in either the first or fourth sets, recording a .000 percentage. Alexis Aguirre led the way in assists with 21, while Sarah Tuioti-Mariner had a team-best 10 kills. Libero Andrea Aguilar, meanwhile, tied Aguirre for the team lead in digs (13) — and earned her 1,700th career dig along the way.

The second-game win did mark the first time since the 2004 season that ENMU was able to avoid a sweep at Canyon.

By comparison, the Buffs had a .237 hitting percentage and finished with 56 kills and 54 assists — compared to Eastern’s 50 and 47, respectively. Crystal Thomas led West Texas A & M with 15 kills and a .652 kills percentage, while Selena Batiste led in assists with 31.

ENMU will now travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville, as the Hounds will face the Javelinas this Friday, 6 p.m. The Greyhounds will return home for a three-match homestand next Monday evening against Western New Mexico.