MARSHALL, Texas -- In the first chapter of the Hwy. 80 Rivalry in 2023, the LeTourneau volleyball team took the opening set but could not hold off East Texas Baptist in a 3-1 loss (20-25, 25-14, 25-14, 25-17) on Tuesday night inside Ornelas Arena.

The loss dropped LeTourneau to 1-7 overall and 1-2 in ASC play on the year. ETBU remains undefeated in conference play at 4-0 to go with a 10-2 overall mark. The two teams will meet again on Oct. 17 in Longview.

LeTourneau got the upper hand early with a 25-20 set one victory. The YellowJackets never trailed in the set and opened a 14-7 lead after a Kaci Monk kill followed by two Tiger errors. ETBU cut the lead to 17-15 before an error and a Reina Lawson ace gave the YellowJackets a four-point advantage.

Kills from Hannah Payan and Emma Smith finished off the game and gave the YellowJackets a 1-0 match lead.

ETBU flipped the script in the second set as the host Tigers took an early lead and never looked back to even the match at 1-1. LeTourneau had a 4-2 lead in the third, but ETBU used two 7-1 runs later in the frame to pull away and take a 25-14 win to edge ahead 2-1 in the match.

In the fourth, LeTourneau battled back from a 9-4 deficit to get within 16-15 after a Payan kill and a Tiger error. A 6-1 run by ETBU brought the margin back to six (22-16) and LeTourneau would get no closer.

Payan finished with nine kills and 10 digs, while Yari Ortiz also had nine kills to go with two blocks. Lawson (17 assists, 10 digs) and Grace Talkington (13 assists, 10 digs) each had double-doubles and Monk added seven kills and three blocks. Allison Smith also totaled three blocks to add to her program-record number for her career.

Morgan Nix led all players with 26 digs.

Graycee Mosley had 19 kills and 10 digs for ETBU, while Sydney Temple had 27 assists and Lillie Hill 20 digs.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau travels out west this weekend to face Howard Payne (Friday at 6 p.m.) and Sul Ross State (Saturday at 2 p.m.).

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