Eagles avenge loss to Hounds in LSC opener

PORTALES — After a good early pre-conference run, Eastern New Mexico University’s volleyball team came up short on Friday night, losing to Oklahoma Christian 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-14 in the Greyhounds’ home opener and the Lone Star Conference lidlifter for both sides at Greyhound Arena.

ENMU (9-4), which notched a four-set win over OC (8-4) in the LSC crossover tournament on Sept. 8, tried to make a match of it with a third-set comeback, but the Eagles jumped on top with the first six points of the fourth set before finishing it with a match-ending 8-0 run.

Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Collins led Oklahoma Christian with 10 kills and seven digs, while senior middle hitter Kelsie Schiefelbein added seven kills and six total blocks. Senior setter Olivia Hessman posted 21 assists and nine digs.

For ENMU, double-doubles were notched by senior middle blocker Adriana Puni (a personal-best 13 kills and 13 digs) and by junior setter Jaylynn Nihipali (23 assists, 10 digs), while senior middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs also set a personal high in kills with 15. It was Nihipali’s fifth double-double of the campaign.

Prior to this fall, the teams had met only once, and the Hounds still lead the head-to-head series 2-1.

ENMU, which had won eight of nine going into Friday’s tilt, was slated to host Arkansas-Fort Smith in another conference match on Saturday. Next weekend, the Hounds visit LSC foes Texas-Tyler on Friday and Dallas Baptist on Saturday.

Midwestern State 3, ENMU 0 (women’s soccer, Wednesday) — Freshman midfielder Brynn Covington broke a scoreless tie right before halftime and the Mustangs went on to beat ENMU at Greyhound Stadium in the Lone Star Conference opener for both squads.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between early before freshman forward Brynn Covington scored to the upper right corner of the net with under two minutes left in the half. The Mustangs (3-2) added a pair of second-half goals in a span of about 10 minutes from junior forward Cassidy Savoy, one coming early in the stanza and the second near the midway point, to wrap it up.

ENMU (2-4) managed only one shot on goal in the contest. Freshman goalkeeper Samantha Jeffries had three saves for the Hounds.

The Mustangs posted a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

ENMU was slated to play at St. Edward’s on Saturday before visiting Texas Woman’s on Wednesday in LSC matches.