Tournament Central PageBELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team split the opening day of their season-opening tournament, sweeping Whitman College 3-0 and falling 3-2 to Whitworth University.
UMHB dominated the first of the day, taking a three-set 25-15, 26-16, 25-23 win over Whitman College.
Shelby Russell and
Sarah Paolini led the team in their UMHB debuts, each recording 10 kills on the day.
Cheyenne Dowdey added six kills while
Natasha Evans added five as the Cru recorded 38 kills in the match.
Shelby Prather led UMHB with 26 assists, while
Abby Voskuil recorded a match-high 22 kills. Dowdey was also a force in the defense, leading UMHB with eight blocks while Evans added five and
Sydney Stolz added four en route to a team-total 12.5 blocks. UMHB totaled 38 kills on 105 total attacks with 18 errors while Whitman had 34 kills on 116 attacks with 16 errors.
The Cru faced Whitworth University in the second match of the day, falling 3-2 to the Pirates. UMHB won the first two sets 25-23, 25-10 before falling in the final three 18-25, 25-27, 10-15. Paolini led the Cru with 19 kills on 39 total attacks while Evans added 13 kills. Prather had a team-high 38 assists with Voskuil adding 37 kills. Dowdey again led the Cru's defense at the line, totaling 10 blocks to help UMHB to 11.5. The Cru totaled 54 kills on 16 errors with 157 total attacks while the Pirates had 57 kills with 20 errors on 163 total attacks.
Dowdey, the Schlotzsky's Lotz Better Player of the Game, led all athletes in the tournament with 18 total blocks on the day. Voskuil ranked second with 59 digs while Paolini was fifth with a .387 attack percentage. As a team, the Cru led with 24 blocks, ranked second with 188 digs and was fourth in hitting percentage with .221.UMHB returns to action tomorrow, playing a 12:30 p.m. game against Trinity University, then finishing the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. match against Willamette University.
