AUSTIN, Texas -- LeTourneau's volleyball team dropped its final match at the American Southwest Conference Crossover II Saturday at Concordia Texas. LETU lost to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14.
The YellowJackets (14-11, 7-5 ASC) remained in second place in the league's East Division with a home date against first place University of Texas at Dallas 6 p.m. Friday on the horizon. The Cru improved to 18-6 overall, 12-0 atop the ASC West.
LeTourneau built a 17-11 lead in the opening set, following a block by
Natalie Connelly and
Kianna Crow. Mary Hardin-Baylor responded with a six-point run to tie it. Connelly pounded a kill on the next serve to put LETU up 18-17, but UHMB ran off the next four points to go in front by three. A Cru error and block by
Lexie Welton and
Mikayla Thomas brought the Jackets within one again. But the two sides traded points over the next seven serves, with Mary Hardin-Baylor securing the final point to win the first set.
The YellowJackets had 14 kills and seven attack errors in 51 attempts in the set. The Cru put away 16 balls, and had six errors in 48 attacks. There were four ties and four lead changes in the set.
Mary Hardin-Baylor raced out to a 7-2 advantage in the middle set, but LeTourneau climbed back in it, drawing within 12-10 on
Cam Taylor's ace. That came after a block by Welton and Thomas, who also banged down a kill in a three-point spurt. Following a Cru sideout, the Jackets used a UHMB error and back-to-back blasts by Crow to pull even at 13-13. Three serves later, the YellowJackets took the lead on Crow's putaway. However, the Cru responded with a 5-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. A UHMB error and kills by Crow and Welton helped LETU cut it to 19-18, but Mary Hardin-Baylor rattled off the next six points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The second set featured four more ties and four more lead changes. LeTourneau had 10 kills and four errors in the set, while UHMB put away 16 kills, and had four errors.
Natalie Davenport and Thomas combined on a block in the final set to help LETU draw even in a set for the ninth time, this time at 7-7. The Cru pushed its lead out to 15-10 before Crow and Connelly came up with a block to cut the deficit to four. But Mary Hardin-Baylor put together a seven-point surge to extend the lead to 22-11, and LeTourneau could not recover.
The Cru put away 16 kills for a third straight set, while committing four errors. The YellowJackets had nine kills and eight errors. There were three more ties and three lead changes in the final set.
Crow finished with 13 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Thomas had nine kills and four blocks, while hitting .350. Davenport had 26 assists and 11 digs.
Audrey Galindo scooped up 17 digs,
Taylor Smith 14 and
Cam Taylor 12. UHMB's Kayla Janikula had 15 kills and four blocks, and hit. 429. Jenna Gillean had 10 kills and 25 digs. Cory Jo Martin distributed 41 assists.
Mary-Hardin Baylor had 88 digs to LeTourneau's 69. The Cru had a .252 attack percentage. The YellowJackets hit .093.
Friday's match with the ASC East-leading Comets is the penultimate home match of the season. LETU's final date at Solheim Arena is Tuesday, Oct. 29.
NET NOTE: Crow broke the school record for kills in a season, passing Jennifer McCool's 363 in 2004. Crow now has 382 putaways this year.
