ENMU volleyball falls in four to St. Edward's

AUSTIN, Texas — The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team started the season 0-4 despite some tight matches, but started the Hilltopper Classic with a pair of five-game wins in the other direction.

They couldn’t continue the streak, however, falling to St. Edward’s on Saturday 20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22 to close out the Classic before beginning the Lone Star Conference season.

Eastern (2-5) posted an 8-3 burst, highlighted by three kills from sophomore Jasmine Gannon, and after a 6-2 run the Hilltoppers never got closer than four the rest of the set.

St. Edward’s (5-2) pulled away in the next two sets, scoring the final four in the third and breaking a 12-12 tie in the fourth with an 8-2 spurt.

The Greyhounds looked primed to force what would have been their fifth five-set match of the season, with Sarah Tuioti-Mariner’s kill giving Eastern a 20-15 lead. But the Greyhounds got just two kills the rest of the way as the Hilltoppers closed things out.

Kate Hendrix had 11 kills to lead the Hilltoppers, while Melissa McNeil had nine kills and a pair of blocks.

Gannon led the Greyhounds with 14 kills, while Tuioti-Mariner added 10 and Julie Tucker nine. Gannon also had three blocks.

The Greyhounds open the LSC season at home Friday and play three home matches in six days — 5 p.m. Friday against Midwestern State, 1 p.m. Saturday against Cameron and 5 p.m. Tuesday against Texas Permian Basin.