Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ENMU sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Sophia Valdez beats St. Edward's freshman Carrington Jaimes' block attempt during Saturday's Lone Star Conference volleyball match at Steve Loy Arena. Valdez collected 14 kills, four block assists and a season-best six aces to help the Greyhounds edge the Austin, Texas-based Hilltoppers in five sets.
Eastern New Mexico University closed the fifth set on a 7-2 run and the Greyhounds posted their first Lone Star Conference victory of the campaign on Saturday, a 25-21, 28-30, 25-18, 16-25, 15-10 triumph over St. Edward's at Steve Loy Arena.
It was their first victory under interim coach Natalia Burdulis, who became the interim coach on Oct. 3 after head coach Sia Poyer stepped away to deal with health issues.
Ironically, St. Edward's announced on Monday that head coach Jared Te'o had resigned after the match and will be replaced on an interim basis by assistant Capri Davis.
Senior outside hitter Darcy Dodd (14 kills, 17 digs) and freshman setter Cayla Reyes (20 digs, 38 assists) each earned her sixth double-double of the season for the Hounds. Senior outside hitter Halle Sanders added eight kills and 19 digs, junior defensive specialist/libero Imani Brown had 17 digs, junior outside hitter Nevaeh Rodriguez collected 16 digs and senior middle blocker Randi Crandall of Dora posted eight kills and four block assists.
Meantime, sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Sophia Valdez – who came in with no aces for the season – tied a program record with six of ENMU's season-best 13 aces in this one. She also had 14 kills and tied a personal best for blocks with four block assists.
Valdez posted four kills on five attacks in the final set to help the Hounds close it out.
Sophomore outside hitter Kelli Fording led the Hilltoppers (9-12, 1-9) with 19 kills, while junior outside hitter/middle blocker Addy Badley chipped in 11, but St. Ed's was guilty of 35 attack errors and 12 service errors in the match.
Freshman defensive specialist Bea Angeles posted 23 digs for the Hilltoppers, while freshman setter Althea Morris collected 52 assists.
ENMU had five blocks in the first set and erased a late deficit with a set-ending 6-1 run, but Fording had back-to-back kills late to help the Hilltoppers pull even for the match in Game 2.
St. Ed's had more attack errors (11) than kills (10) in Game 3 as the Hounds controlled the set most of the way. The Hilltoppers then combined solid defense with five aces in Game 4 to pull even again.
ENMU returns to action with a 5 p.m. (MST) LSC tilt against Oklahoma Christian at Edmond, Okla.
