BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team earned a 3-2 non-conference win over Texas Lutheran University Wednesday night in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 18-0 on the season while the Bulldogs fell to 11-8 overall.
 
The match opened with back and forth scoring until the Cru finished the opening set with a 7-1 run, taking a 25-19 win. TLU fought back in the second set, pulling away at 17-13 and cruising to a 25-16 win from there. UMHB came back in the third, securing the 25-20 win with three aces in the final points. UMHB fought hard to win the match in the fourth set, but TLU took a late lead and the final points to even the match at two sets each. UMHB dominated through the fifth, securing the match with a 15-7 fifth-set win and game-winning ace from Alli Pierce.
 
Kayla Janikula led the Cru with 19 kills in the match, while Hannah Frasca added 13. UMHB hit 52 kills on 213 attacks, anchored by Pierce with 43 assists. The Cru finished the match with 12 aces, led by Maddie Gillispie with 5.
 
"Tonight was a fun night," Head Coach Mark Pryor said. "We were challenged, and the important thing is that we really enjoyed the challenge. It was really fun watching the kids play ball at a pretty good level and seeing them have a lot of fun doing it."
 
Maddie Gillispie led UMHB's defense with 29 digs while Alyssa Christiansen added 24 to the Cru's 109 did total.  At the net UMHB totaled 10 blocks with Janikula recording three.
 
"Next up… a good ETBU team that is in the top tier of our league," Pryor added.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, October 16th in an 11:00 a.m. match against East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.