SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team opened the 2019 season with an up-and-down day at the Trinity University Tournament. The Cru split its first two matches of the year, knocking off Minnesota-Morris to start the day before falling to tournament host Trinity in Friday's finale.
 
UMHB opened the day with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota-Morris. The Cru won 27-25, 25-20, 25-27, 25-18 to give Head Coach Mark Pryor his first victory at UMHB. The opening game was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than three points. The Cru scored the final five points of game #2 to take a 2-0 lead only to see the Cougars use an 8-1 run near the end of the third game to send it to a fourth. UMHB would take control midway through the final game to pull away for the win. Miranda Klein led the Cru with 14 kills and 13 digs. Cory Jo Martin had 32 assists and Corinne Novak added nine kills. UMHB hit .263 as a team and recorded 12 total blocks compared to just three for Minnesota-Morris. The Cougars are coming off a trip to the Second Round of the NCAA Division III National Championships last season.
 
The Cru would then struggle to maintain momentum in a four-game loss to 17^th-ranked and tournament host Trinity in the final game of the opening day. UMHB won the opening game 25-16 before the Tigers fought back to sweep the next three to close it out. Klein again led the Cru with nine kills and Martin added 12 assists and 12 digs. UMHB hit just .053 as a team, but did record nine total team blocks. Trinity hit .190 as a team with Avery Tuggle recording 19 kills. The Tigers also recorded seven service aces in the victory.  
 
The Cru will close out the tournament with two more matches on Saturday. UMHB will take on Neumann University in a 10 am start before facing Saint Benedict at 12:30 pm.