Angelo State notches win over Hounds

PORTALES - In any sport, if you can't score, it's hard to win.

For a long time now, the Eastern New Mexico University women's soccer team has had to deal with that against Angelo State, and it was no different on Saturday as the 25th-ranked Rambelles made a first-half goal stand up for a 1-0 Lone Star Conference victory at Greyhound Stadium.

ENMU is now 3-24-1 all-time against Angelo, and has lost 13 in a row by a combined 27-3 tally. That said, the last three and six of the last eight matches have been 1-0 decisions.

Rambelles coach Travis McCorkle, who was both the first men's (2004-07) and women's (2003-07) soccer coach at ENMU, said he was happy to get the victory but not pleased with his team's performance.

"I thought we played awful," said McCorkle, now in his 15th campaign at ASU. "ENMU did a good job; they're working hard. But I'm just not pleased with our attacking right now. We're just not getting goals."

Freshman forward Grace Jordan netted her sixth goal of the fall from about 20 yards out in the 27th minute when her high shot bounced off the hands of ENMU goalkeeper Samantha Jeffries and deflected into the top left corner of the net.

From there, the Rambelles had a tough time getting in scoring range, but they were able to keep the Hounds (3-6, 1-3) at bay as well.

"Eastern did a good job defending," McCorkle said. "In the first half, I thought we could've gotten a second or third goal, and if we did that we could relax a little bit and not worry that much."

Jeffries finished with six saves. ASU outshot the Hounds on goal 7-2.

It was Angelo's seventh shutout of the season, and fifth in a row

First-year ENMU coach Eric Belcher said it's a process trying to bring the program along.

"When you're trying to learn so much new stuff, it takes time," he said. "I think we competed. We had our moments; we just couldn't capitalize on them.

"This conference is one of the toughest ones. It's always a tough go, no matter who you play."

The Hounds continue in LSC play on Saturday with a noon kickoff against St. Mary's at Greyhound Stadium.

ENMU falls to Dallas Baptist in volleyball - At Dallas, the Hounds continued to struggle in early LSC action, dropping 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 decision to Dallas Baptist on Saturday.

Junior outside hitter Abby Phillips and sophomore outside hitter Price Reeves collected nine kills apiece for the Patriots (12-3, 3-1 LSC). Sophomore middle blocker Shaylee Shore added seven kills and four total blocks (three solos), while senior setter Lauryn Burt had nine digs to go with 34 assists.

For ENMU (9-7, 0-4), junior outside hitter Kali Nelson posted nine kills while senior middle blocker Adriana Puni notched seven kills and nine digs. No one reached double digits, though, in any individual category for the Hounds.

After Dallas Baptist led the entire first set, ENMU scored the first four points in Game 2 before the Patriots rallied, taking a 17-16 lead on a Hounds attack error and holding it the rest of the set.

DBU then broke away from a 14-14 tie in the third game, finishing on an 11-4 run to improve to 8-1 all-time against the Hounds.

ENMU returns to Greyhound Arena for a 6 p.m. league contest today against Texas Woman's, kicking off a four-match homestand.