Greyhound rally falls short

PORTALES - With their backs against the wall, Eastern New Mexico volleyball was in a tough spot. A rough opening set and a second set that got away from the Hounds, made it appear as if ENMU was on its way to being swept in its home-opener against Angelo State on Friday night.

However, looks can be deceiving. Even after losing their team co-captain and one of their top players, Sarah Tuioti-Mariner, in the second set, the Greyhounds found a way to step up and keep hope alive.

Eastern (4-7, 2-2 Lone Star Conference) did a 180 in the third and fourth sets, to force a deciding fifth set. In the end, it was all for naught, however, as Angelo State (10-4, 3-1) took the fifth game, 15-7. The Belles also won sets one and two, 25-7 and 25-18, respectively. The Greyhounds, on the other hand, took sets three and four, 25-19 and 25-23.

"We passed better. With the injury to Sarah, we went with another lineup we've never used before," Greyhounds coach Sia Poyer explained. "Sometimes, when teams don't scout against a certain lineup (it's tough to adjust). Sometimes, when you have an injury like that, or make changes, it gets players fired up."

Tuioti-Mariner, who appeared to injure her ankle and wound up on crutches afterward, left the match in the middle of the second set. Nonetheless, Eastern still came out fired up for the third set, as it took a quick 6-0 lead.

ASU would rally to cut it to two, but kills from multiple Greyhounds down the stretch sealed it. As for the fourth set, a back and forth affair ended with blocks from Lauryn Bresnahan and Jennifer Martinez. However, five Greyhound attack errors in the deciding fifth set was enough for the Belles to escape with a victory.

"It's such a momentum game. With any team, all you need is that one kill, one ace to get something going," Poyer said. "That first set, that's never ever happened to us. Volleyball all starts with serve-receive and passing. If it's not there, then you gotta have some bangers that can put the ball away."

In the opening set, ENMU started in an 8-1 hole and could never really recover, as crisp passing led to unforced Greyhound errors. Angelo State, meanwhile, seemed to always be in the right spot at the right time. But while the serve-receive game looked better for Eastern in the second game, it wasn't quite enough, as it had to regroup, going into the locker room.

For Poyer, he's still looking for younger players to fill the void, going forward.

"We've got certain players that we know will set the ball, but we still need other kids to perform," Poyer explained. "I'm proud that we came back from being down 0-2 because I know many teams would have folded, just given up. I'm proud of my girls for not letting that happen. But, with Sarah's injury, other players have got to step up."

Eastern will host No. 20 Tarleton State today at noon.