Box Score:
ABILENE, Texas – LeTourneau's volleyball team fell to Sul Ross State (19-25, 17-25, 25-6, 21-25) in an American Southwest Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at the Pete P. Gallego Center.
The YellowJackets dropped to 6-5 overall, 3-3 in ASC play. Sul Ross improves to 7-5, 5-3. LETU finished their three-match week 2-1.
LeTourneau outhit the Lobos in the match, putting together a .156 attack rate, while Sul Ross State had a .137 attack percentage.
Kaci Monk hit .348 with 11 kills and five blocks.
Natalie Connelly had six kills and tied her season-high with seven blocks.
Courtney Edge had 21 digs and an assist.
Kianna Crow had six putaways, 12 digs, two assists, and a block, while
Maddy Denega also put down six kills, five digs and a block.
Natalie Davenport finished with 18 assists, five digs, one block, and an ace.
Samantha Winkel totaled 14 assists and two serving aces.
Reina Lawson chipped in five assists and two digs.
Allison Smith and
Hannah Payan both had five kills, while
Skylar Fowler tallied three kills.
Avery Mabery finished with two kills. Smith and Mabery both had four blocks, while Payan and Fowler had two blocks a piece.
Trailing 2-0 in sets, the Jackets stung Sul Ross in the third set, springing out to an 5-0 lead when Denega slammed down a ball. LETU put together another 5-0 run, sparked by a kill from Crow on an assist by Winkel, extending the YellowJacket lead to 11-2. A kill by Sul Ross' Annika Canaba from Kamrynn Caruth halted the LETU run. Smith blasted one down from Winkel to get the ball back rolling for LeTourneau, igniting a 6-0 run, extending the Jacket lead to 14. Monk tallied two kills during the run, both assisted by Davenport. After a serving ace by Edge and kill by Denega, sandwiched by an error by the Lobos, the YellowJackets moved one point away from claiming the set. Another error by Sul Ross granted LETU the set win.
LeTourneau put together an explosive season-high attack rate of .733 with no errors in the set. Sul Ross was held to -.125 and committed nine errors.
The Jackets fought hard in the fourth set, in a set that featured six ties and five lead changes. After an attack error by the Lobos, the set was knotted at nine. A serving ace by Winkel and another error by Sul Ross, the Jackets held a two-point advantage over the Lobos, 11-9. Back-to-back kills by Sul Ross' Daniella Garcia and Loren Garcia, tied the set at 11. A critical 8-0 run by the Lobos pushed the set out of reach for the YellowJackets, leading for the rest of the set, ultimately claiming the match win.
LETU outblocked Sul Ross, 14-2. LeTourneau tallied 52 digs, while the Lobos had 48 digs.
The YellowJackets return to action Tuesday with a double-header against Centenary and St. Thomas. First serve at the Solheim Center is 3 p.m., with the nightcap beginning at 7 p.m.
