Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The LeTourneau University volleyball team dropped a pair of decisions to host Texas Lutheran (25-23, 25-12, 25-20) and Lewis & Clark (25-16, 14-25, 25-22, 27-25) to begin the 2014 season on Friday afternoon at the TLU Bulldog Classic in Seguin.
 
The YellowJackets' (0-2) sophomore Dolores Kroese began the day with nearly a double double with 15 digs and nine kills to lead the LeTourneau attack; plus, junior Alli Bordelon added a team-high 19 digs and sophomore Skylar Horan and freshman Rachel Earle each had three block assists.
 
The Bulldogs (1-0) were led by Brette Threadgill, who had a match-high 11 kills to lead a TLU attack that outhit LETU, .171 to .008. Kelcie Ingram and Katie Darst each had 19 assists to set the attack.
 
In the first set, neither team was able to sustain the lead and the momentum. With the set at 22, back-to-back attack errors by LETU put TLU ahead, 24-22 and after a Bulldogs' attack error Mackenzie Benson recorded the deciding kill to secure the first set. TLU raced out to a 12-4 lead in the second set en route to the 25-12 win. In the third set, LETU rallied from an early 11-5 deficit to take a 17-14 lead when Kroese had a kill.  The Bulldogs scored the next four points to regain the lead and managed to close out the set as well as the match with a 25-20 win.
 
In the nightcap against Lewis & Clark, sophomore Dolores Kroese and junior Kayla Ronda had 15 and 14 kills to lead a LeTourneau attack, who outhit the Pioneers by a .236 to .213 margin. Freshman Nicole Mosley added 25 assists with sophomore Alyssa Eden contributing 17. Mosley also had a team-high three service aces in the defeat.
 
Lewis & Clark (1-1) was led by Kataleya Milan and Isabel Valentine, who had 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Emily Drake had a match-high 26 assists and Ali Carleton added four service aces as the Pioneers had nine service aces as a team. Tessa Belanger had four blocks – a block solo and three assists – to lead L&C, who had six team blocks.
 
The Pioneers stretched an early 6-5 lead to 21-10 with a 15-4 run as Milan and Valentine each had four kills to lead the offense. The second set, the momentum shifted to LETU as the YellowJackets jumped out to a 13-4 lead. In the early run, the Yellow Jackets had three service aces. LETU closed out the set, scoring 12 of the final 20 points. In the set, Kroese had five Kills and Mosley had three service aces. The third set saw the momentum shift back over to Lewis & Clark as they nearly led from start to finish. Again, Milan and Valentine each had four kills for Lewis & Clark; however, Kroese had seven more kills for the YellowJackets. Ronda added six kills for LETU. In the fourth set, the tightly contested match went back and forth. With the score tied on eight occasions, it was not until a Milan kill and a LETU ball handling error that clinched the match for the Pioneers, 27-25.
 
LETU will wrap up its opening weekend of action with two more matches on Saturday with a 10 a.m. tilt against Schreiner University and 4 p.m. contest against Fairleigh Dickinson in Seguin.