Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ENMU senior middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs goes high to put down one of her career-best 22 kills during the Greyhounds' 3-1 Lone Star Conference volleyball win over Lubbock Christian on Wednesday night at Greyhound Arena.
PORTALES - The Greyhounds won't qualify for next week's Lone Star Conference's postseason tournament, but Eastern New Mexico University's volleyball team came into its final two matches looking for a solid end to the season.
That would include a winning record, which the Hounds put themselves in position for by knocking off Lubbock Christian 26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15 on Wednesday night at Greyhound Arena. They finished the process on Friday night, turning back Western New Mexico 19-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 in a match moved to Rock Staubus Gym in Clovis due to a city-wide water outage in Portales which happened late Wednesday night.
Senior middle blocker Gracelyn Stubbs posted a career-best 22 kills while senior setter Qitana Sapiga also notched a career high with 33 assists as the Hounds (15-13, 6-10 LSC after Friday's outing) knocked off the Lady Chaps (10-16, 6-9) for the first time since LCU entered the conference in 2019.
"Lubbock Christian's a good team," ENMU coach Sia Poyer said. "We passed the ball really well tonight, and we served the ball well."
The Hounds finished the match with 11 aces - four by senior middle blocker Adriana Puni - and only three service errors.
"That's a first for us," said the 6-foot Stubbs, who prepped at Eldorado High in Albuquerque. "Lately, we've struggled a lot with that."
Although the Hounds now lead the all-time series 34-30, they had lost 12 of the last 15 to the Lady Chaps, including four in a row since a 3-1 win at Greyhound Arena in 2017.
"This was probably one of our better matches," Stubbs said. "We just came out and played our game.
"There's a few matches that we should've closed out (this season) that slipped through our fingers."
While the Hounds were already eliminated from next week's eight-team LSC tournament, they also made sure the Lady Chaps would not be able to qualify.
"It's kind of sad," Poyer said of not earning a berth. "We had some back luck with injuries at the wrong time. But this was a great win, especially for our seniors."
ENMU trailed for most of Game 1, but put together a 6-2 run for a 19-18 lead and finished off the set when Stubbs posted back-to-back kills on the final two points.
Game 2 was tight until junior outside hitter Mikaela Garvin's kill snapped a 10-10 tie and set off a 6-0 run. The Lady Chaps did not get closer than four points after that.
LCU bounced back in the third set, rallying after the Hounds put together a 16-5 stretch to open a six-point advantage. The Lady Chaps countered with a 6-0 run, then got kills from freshman outside hitter Payton Murray and junior middle blocker Kalli Dalland en route to the final three points.
It was all Hounds in the fourth. Two kills by Stubbs, one each by Puni and junior outside hitter Kali Nelson and an ace by freshman outside hitter Anjolina Perez staked ENMU to a 5-0 lead and the Lady Chaps never recovered.
"Offensively, Gracelyn and Kali (played well)," Poyer said. "(Gracelyn) runs the slide (going behind the setter to take a backset for a kill) better than anybody in the conference."
Nelson added 13 kills and Garvin earned a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. Senior outside hitter/middle blocker Jordan O'Connor-Dempsey posted five total blocks (one solo), while junior libero Getsemani Carrasco notched a match-high 27 digs.
Murray finished with 11 kills for the Lady Chaps. Sophomore setter Kayton Genenbacher fell just short of a double-double with eight digs and 39 assists.
ENMU 3, Western New Mexico 1 - The Hounds struggled early with the lowly Mustangs (3-25, 1-14), dropping the first set, before taking control for most of the rest of the match.
After winning Game 2, ENMU trailed 11-10 in the third before finishing it off with a 15-3 surge, led by three kills from Puni. The Mustangs threatened to force a fifth set, using a 10-3 blitz to go in front 22-18 in the fourth, but two kills from Stubbs helped ENMU end the contest on a 7-0 run.
Nelson posted a match-leading 13 kills, while Stubbs went out with a bang, collecting 10 kills, three solo blocks and five block assists. Meantime, Sapiga recorded her 10th double-double of the campaign with 21 assists and 14 digs.
For WNMU, senior outside hitter Bria Augustine posted 12 kills, while junior outside hitter Jazmyne Walker posted a match-high 17 digs and senior setter Madelyn Culp finished with 21 assists.
