BROWNWOOD, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team opened the 2020-2021 season a pair of wins over Howard Payne University Tuesday evening in Brownwood.
 
UMHB earned a 3-1 win in the first match. The Cru opened with a 25-14 first-set victory before falling 22-25 in the second. UMHB responded with a 25-16 third-set win to take the lead and closed the match behind a 25-19 fourth-set victory. Corinne Novak led the Cru with 12 kills in the match, hitting .238 with two errors on 38 total attacks. Kayla Janikula added eight kills with just one error on 24 attacks while Sarah Grace Merry and Kylie Metcalf each had five kills. UMHB totaled 44 kills on 167 attacks with 17 errors. Alli Pierce led the Cru with 21 assists, followed by Maddison Heibel with 16. Defensively, Maddie Gillispie led the Cru with 25 digs while Hannah Frasca added 24. UMHB limited the Yellow Jackets to a -.011 hitting percentage, allowing just 33 kills on 181 total attacks.
                                                                                                                            
The Cru took the next match in order 25-16, 25-19, 25-12. Novak, Kayla Janikula and Faith Holzhausen led the Cru with five kills each as UMHB hit .231 in the match. The Cru totaled 36 kills with nine errors on 117 attacks. Pierce led UMHB with 16 assists, followed by Heibel with 12. Adrien Valdez was the defensive leader, recording 18 digs, followed by Frasca with 15. Howard Payne totaled 27 kills on 115 attacks with 18 errors for a .078 percentage in the match.
 
UMHB returns to action on Wednesday, February 17^th in a 5 p.m. doubleheader against McMurry University at the Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.