BELTON, Texas – The LeTourneau volleyball team earned its first win of the season on Saturday as they split their final two matches at the UMHB Invitational.
The YellowJackets dominated the first game of the afternoon as they earned a decisive 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-10) result. The following game was a tightly contested match with Carroll, which saw LeTourneau fall in five sets (25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-8).
MATCH ONE: LeTourneau 3, Alverno 0
The YellowJackets' defense held Alverno to a .023 hitting percentage, an effort spearheaded by Maddy Hirneise, who had 12 digs, and Rebekah Dragoo, who had eight. Hailee Perry led the Jackets in assists with 18, while freshman Gabby Ovalle added 14 in her second collegiate game.
Logan Lear led the charge offensively as she contributed eight kills to the LeTourneau attack. Nora Lockhart also made her presence felt as she recorded seven kills and three blocks while hitting an impressive .385.
LeTourneau (1-1) controlled the early going as it used consecutive kills from Lear, Lockhart, and Kassidy Meyer to take a 12-5 lead. Alverno would cut the lead to four late in the set but wouldn't get any closer as the YellowJackets closed out the first set 25-17.
LeTourneau stayed in control throughout the second-set, leading by as many as 10, before ultimately claiming the set 25-19. Sia Caballero, Taylor Williams, and Claire Bezanilla each made their collegiate debut in the set.
The Jackets dominated the final set as they used three separate 6-0 runs to cruise to a 25-10 victory.
MATCH TWO: Carroll 3, LeTourneau 2
Lockhart put up her second solid performance of the night as she had nine kills while hitting .364. Ashlyn Walther also did damage at the net as she chipped in six kills and nine blocks. LeTourneau also got a 20-dig game from Hirneise and 17 assists from both Perry and Emily Mullin.
After dropping the first-set, LeTourneau found itself in a 22-21 deficit, needing a spark to avoid going down two sets to none. They got exactly that as they rattled off four straight points to even the match at one set.
The momentum switched back to Carroll in the third-set as LeTourneau found itself down 17-12. The Jackets stole it right back as they exploded to take 13 of the next seventeen points and win the set 25-21, to put themselves one set away from the win.
The fourth set was back-and-forth the entire way as both teams held five-point leads at different points in the set, but it was Carroll who eventually pushed the match to the distance, as they took it 25-23.
The final set was all Carroll as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish, closing out the set 15-8.
Carroll was led by Audrey Rosenbaum and Carly Hicklin, who each had 15 kills.
UP NEXT
LeTourneau will play on Wednesday in their regular-season home opener in a rematch against UMHB.
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