LeTourneau University volleyball split a pair of matches in a triangular on Thursday night. The YellowJackets fell 3-0 to UT Tyler in an ASC matchup before taking down University of Dallas 3-1 to end the night.
 
"We had a great week of practice this week and it showed in our play tonight," said head coach Scott Peluso after the night. "After a tough weekend the team came in committed to improve and play to a level that is more representative of who we are.  It would have been easy for them to just go through the motions but they were just not satisfied with that.  That is what I love about our team – they never stop fighting.  All 17 of our players pushed each other and I truly believe that is what made the difference tonight."
 
The first match was an ASC showdown with UT Tyler who came into the match 10-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The YellowJackets hung tough in all three sets but weren't able to convert late in the sets as UT Tyler took the match 3-0 (16-25, 21-25, 20-25).
 
"We played well vs. Tyler, they just converted digs into points, but we kept pushing.  Dolores had one of her best hitting games of the season and I was proud of our effort," said Peluso.
 
Dolores Henson finished with 10 kills to go along with six digs. Nicole Mosley and senior Korissa White recorded 16 and 10 assists respectively.
 
Against Dallas, LETU came out with great flow on both offense and defense in the first two sets. But the Crusaders are a very good team defensively led by senior Jessie Koster who leads the nation in digs and digs per set.
 
A slow start in the third set cost the YellowJackets as they fell behind 10-1 and couldn't recover as they dropped the set 16-25 to the Crusaders.
 
In the fourth set the YellowJackets got big kills down the stretch from senior Skylar Horan who finished with 12 kills in the match.
 
"We stayed focused and committed to winning the long rallies that we knew we would be in against a team that has their level of defense. We did a great job blocking and in transition in that 4^th set.  I was extremely proud of the way we finished after being own by a few points late but finishing strong."
 
The YellowJackets won the match 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 16-25, 26-24) and improved to 7-13 overall on the season. Dolores Henson recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 23 digs. Skylar Horan was big at the net leading LETU with 12 kills and five blocks. Freshman Audrey Galindo had a career high 31 digs in the match to go along with seven assists.
 
When asked about the performance of his squad coach Scott Peluso said, "Skylar had a great hitting and blocking game, Audrey had some amazing digs, Dolores had another double-double and Jenny had some huge swings including the one near the end that gave us match point.  I was very proud of our team from top to bottom."
 
The YellowJackets will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Belhaven from Jackson, Mississippi at 5 PM.