LONGVIEW, Texas – Honoring three seniors as part of "Senior Night", the LeTourneau University volleyball team managed to pick up a key American Southwest Conference victory over Louisiana College before falling three sets to the University of Dallas in the LETU triangular at Solheim Arena on Friday, October 5th.
LeTourneau now sits at 7-12 overall and 4-4 in the ASC while the Wildcats fell twice on Friday to slip to 4-13 overall and 2-6 in the ASC. Dallas earned a pair of victories to improve to 14-8 overall.

How it Happened vs Louisiana College:

• LeTourneau would get off to a slow start in the first set until a pair of kills from Lexie Welton and Natalie Connelly sparked an 11-1 YellowJacket run take a 13-7 lead over the Wildcats.
• LC would chip away at the LETU lead, cutting the lead to a single point at 20-19 and managing to tie the set at 21-21.
• Ultimately, it would be the YellowJackets who refused to give in as they scored four of the last six points to secure a 25-23 victory.
• Much like the first set, the second set was neck and neck in the early going with neither team allowing the other to jump out to a lead of more than three points.
• The Wildcats and YellowJackets found themselves deadlocked three different times throughout the second set, with a final tie at 11-11 before a 3-0 YellowJacket run forced an LC timeout.
• With the lead hovering at a three-point margin, LETU would finally break open the set with another 3-0 run to go up 23-17 as Louisiana College mustered only three points before the YellowJackets earned a 25-20 win.
• With their backs against the wall, Louisiana College refused to give up as they posted an early 9-4 lead over the YellowJackets in must-win situation as LeTourneau didn't have an answer for the Wildcats early on.
• Looking to cut into the LC lead one point at a time, LETU went on a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to 11-9.
• Louisiana College held LeTourneau at a two-point deficit for much of the middle part of the third set before seeing the YellowJackets tie the score at 18-18.
• LC would reclaim the lead with a kill and a service ace to put themselves in a position for a late rally, but it would be the YellowJackets who flipped the tables on the Wildcats by scoring four straight points and six of the final seven points to take a 25-22 victory and match sweep.

Key Stats:

• The YellowJacket offense recorded 38 kills compared to 39 for the Wildcats with 13 kills coming from Kianna Crow and five each from both Julie Smith and Torie Langston.
• Liz Williams posted a team-high 16 digs while Cam Taylor served up a team-high 15 assists. Langston also recorded 50% of the team blocks with three.
• LETU would see a major advantage in two areas over the match, walking away with five more blocks than the Wildcats and recorded a greater attack percentage of (.283 for LETU,  .168 for Louisiana College)

How it Happened vs. University of Dallas

• Avoiding a slow start, LETU wasted no time jumping out to a 5-1 lead before building their lead to a match-high seven points at 13-6.
• Coming off their four-set victory over Louisiana College, Dallas would use a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 13-9 before seeing the YellowJackets match their lead at 18-11.
• Down the stretch would be an issue for LeTourneau as an 8-3 Crusader run brought the score to 21-19 in favor of LETU with the YellowJackets calling a timeout to try and stop the momentum that Dallas was gaining.
• Pushing their lead to 23-20, LETU would see the Crusaders manage to tie the match at 24-24 all as part of a 3-0 run to end the set and steal a 26-24 victory from the YellowJackets.
• Still stunned from the set victory for the Crusaders, LeTourneau saw Dallas jump out to a 5-0 lead in the second set as nothing would break in favor of the YellowJackets.
• The lead for the Crusaders would grow to 11-2 as very little offense would be produced by LeTourneau in the second set.
• Despite a 6-2 run for LETU late in the set, the Crusader lead that was built in the early stages of the set would be too large to overcome as LeTourneau would fall by a score of 25-16 and face a 2-0 deficit in the match heading to the third.
• Trying to stay alive in the match, LETU would open up a 5-1 lead to start the third set and force a Crusader timeout with Langston and Mikayla Thomas providing the offense as part of the run.
• Managing to push their lead to 9-4, LETU would then see Dallas go on a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the match at 11-10.
• Later in the set with the score tied at 14-14, both teams would trade points before the Crusaders would use a 5-0 run to open a 20-15 lead and put the YellowJackets in a late hole.
• Following a 3-0 run for Dallas to put the Crusaders up 23-16, LETU would give one last effort to try and claw their way back into the set with a 4-0 run but see Dallas score the final two points of the match to earn a 25-20 set victory and spoil the senior night celebration.

Key Stats:  

• In what would start out as a relatively clean match, Dallas would record a .274 attack percentage compared to a .158 percentage for the YellowJackets.
• The Crusaders would use five service aces to overcome a 5-1 deficit in blocks, as three of LETU's blocks would come from Langston.
• Offensively, Crow would lead the YellowJackets with 12 kills and 13 digs to record a double-double while a trio of LETU players had six (Lauren Egby-McNeal, Thomas, and Langston).

What's Next?
LeTourneau returns to action tomorrow afternoon in the midst of their four-match homestand with a 1 p.m. ASC matchup with Belhaven University. Earlier this season, LeTourneau outlasted the Blazers in five sets in Jackson, Mississippi as part of a 2-0 road weekend. Belhaven will enter Saturday's match with a 9-9 overall record and 1-7 mark in the ASC following a five-set defeat at East Texas Baptist Friday night.