MARSHALL, Texas -- With two sets seeing extra points, LeTourneau volleyball walked away with a cinematic 3-2 (27-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-27, 15-12) victory over Howard Payne on Friday afternoon inside Ornelas Gym in Marshall.

Aubree McCann had one of her best days as a YellowJacket, serving up season-highs in kills with 18, assists with three, and blocks with two. 

The middles were also unstoppable for the YellowJackets (15-11), as both Ashlyn Walther and Nora Lockhart had one of their best days in the blue and gold.

Lockhart had a season-high 10 kills (.304), while Walther set a career-high eight rejections at the net, along with matching a career-best six kills (.357).

Emma Smith featured nine kills in the thriller, followed by Logan Lear with six of her own. Maddy Hirneise led the way with 26 digs.

Emily Mullin notched the 10th double-double of her freshman campaign, with a career mark of 29 assists and 12 digs.

Hailee Perry also logged a double-double, her fourth of the year, with 10 assists and a career-high 13 digs.

The first set of this thriller set the pace for the entire match, with neither team able to gather more than three points in a row.

With LeTourneau on the ropes on a 24-23 set point, Smith forced extra points with a right-side slam.

This kill would be followed by a Howard Payne (10-13) attack error, and a Lockhart throwdown would clinch the first set for the YellowJackets.

The second set saw more of the same, as LeTourneau held a slim 21-20 lead. 

Four consecutive attack errors by Howard Payne, including a combo block from Walther and McCann, would give LeTourneau a 2-0 lead in the match.

Howard Payne would not go down without a fight, though, as in a 22-22 knot, the Yellow Jackets took three straight to avoid the sweep.

The critical fourth set seemed like mirrored deja vu, as LeTourneau had a 25-24 match point, but Howard Payne took the final three points and won a set of their own in extras.

As the former conference rivals took the court for the pivotal fifth set, all the momentum was in the hands of Howard Payne.

However, LeTourneau kicked things off hot, taking an 8-3 lead. Howard Payne would eventually match thanks to a five-point run to give them a 10-9 lead.

After a back-and-forth, the match would be tied 11-11, and the race to four points was on. 

A Howard Payne service error gave the lead to the YellowJackets, and a pair of McCann attacks piled on the lead.

Finally, a wayward attack iced the match, and LeTourneau would walk away victorious. 

Howard Payne was headlined by Carli Briese with 15 kills and a .483 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau takes on Austin College tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in Solheim Arena, with massive conference tournament implications looming.

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