ENMU improves to 6-3, takes three of four in meet hosted by TWU

DENTON, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University’s volleyball team continued its solid early start over the weekend, winning three of four matches in the Denton Volleyfest, hosted by Texas Woman’s, to improve to 6-3 for the season.

ENMU downed Northwestern Oklahoma 25-20, 25-21, 25-9 and rallied past Ouachita Baptist 13-25, 15-25, 25-15, 25-19, 15-8 on Friday, then defeated East Central 25-15, 25-19, 25-21 and lost to Missouri Southern 25-23, 25-18, 25-13 on Saturday.

Friday — ENMU controlled Northwestern Oklahoma most of the way, especially dominating the Rangers (3-2) in the third set.

Junior outside hitter Mikaela Garvin had nine kills, two solo blocks and three block assists for the Hounds, while junior libero Getsemani Carrasco posted 23 digs. Freshman setter Kayla Ison notched team highs of three aces and 16 assists.

Ouachita Baptist (2-3) was in command in the first two sets against ENMU, but the Hounds used an 11-1 run to open a 20-11 cushion in Game 3. Garvin finished off the set with back-to-back kills.

The Hounds then pulled away gradually from a 9-9 tie to take Game 4 and force a deciding set. ENMU opened an 11-1 lead in Game 5 and never looked back, although Ouachita did get within 12-8 near the end. Senior middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs had an ace on match point.

Garvin had 18 kills in the match, while Carrasco notched 35 digs and Nihipali collected 20 assists.

Saturday — The Hounds erased an early 10-7 deficit with five unanswered points before pulling away to win Game 1 against East Central. In the second set, the Tigers (1-7) led 10-7 and 16-15 before ENMU got going with a finishing 10-3 stretch, capped by an ace from Carrasco.

ECU had an 11-8 lead in Game 3, but with the match tied late, the Hounds wrapped it up with a 5-1 surge as Garvin posted a pair of kills and Carrasco again had an ace on match point.

Garvin had 12 kills and Perez 11 for ENMU, while junior setter Jaylynn Nihipali posted 25 assists and Carrasco added 22 digs.

Against Missouri Southern (5-2), ENMU got a pair of kills from senior middle blocker Adriana Puni to open a 12-8 lead in Game 1. But the Lions took control late, scoring three of the last four points to snap a 22-22 tie.

Southern led most of the way in the final two games, opening a 15-6 lead with a 9-2 surge in the third set. Garvin had six kills and three block solos for the Hounds, while Nihipali posted a double-double with 12 assists and 11 digs.

The Hounds travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend for the Lone Star Conference crossover tournament. They face Oklahoma Christian on Thursday, host St. Edwards on Friday and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday.

ENMU runs at ACU meet — ENMU opened its cross country campaign on Friday in the Naimadu Classic at Abilene, Texas, hosted by Abilene Christian.

The Greyhounds finished seventh out of 10 teams on the women’s side with 203 points, led by sophomore Marta Pascoa with a time of 14 minutes, 47 seconds over four kilometers, good for seventh place. Other ENMU finishers were senior Kaylyn De La Rosa, 45th in 17:00.1; junior Lauren Griego, 58th in 17:57.1; freshman Valeria Martinez, 60th in 18:08.2, and sophomore Zoe Hutcherson, 69th in 19:10.1.

Texas Christian took team honors with 41 points to 44 for West Texas A&M. ACU’s Irene Rono took individual honors with a time of 13:41.9.

In the 6K men’s race, ENMU senior Devis Cheruiyot was 69th in 21:53.0, followed by freshman Ethan Woodrome, 88th in 23:07.0, and sophomores Luis Holguin, 95th in 24:19.3, and Ricky Diaz, 97th in 25:50.9. With only four runners, the Hounds did not have a team score.

WT won the men’s team title with 47 points, edging Texas Tech (51). The men’s individual winner was Kevin Baez of Tarleton State in 18:31.5.

ENMU squads return to action on Sept. 17 for a meet in Lubbock, hosted by Texas Tech.