MARSHALL, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor volleyball team dropped a four-set contest to East Texas Baptist University Thursday in Marshall. The loss dropped the Cru to 16-2 overall and 2-1 in American Southwest Conference action while the Tigers improved to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in league play
 
UMHB grabbed an early lead in the first set, leading by as many as five. The Tigers fought back, pulling within one but the Cru responded with a four-point run to maintain the margin. ETBU cut the gap to two but the Cru used three unanswered points to take a 20-15 lead. The match went point-for point with the Cru finally securing the 25-20 win. 
 
The Tigers came out swinging in second set, leading by as many as five before pushing the lead to eight at the 10-2 mark. UMHB tried to cut the gap but the Tigers held on, maintaining a double-digit margin at 15-5 and limiting the Cru to just 14 points in the 25-14 second-set win. 
 
The third set played evenly until the 3-3 mark when ETBU embarked on a five-point series to take a substantial lead. ETBU held onto the high ground, leading by as many as nine points and cruising to a 25-15 third-set victory. 
 
ETBU jumped to an early fourth-set lead but the Cru tied it up at four. The set played point-for-point until the 14-14 mark when ETBU used a 5-1 run mark to take the lead. The Cru added one more point before the Tigers scored three to go up 22-16. UMHB fought back with points 17 and 18 but ETBU rallied, scoring three consecutive points to close the set at 25-18.
 
Natalie Hughes led UMHB with six kills, followed by Dravyn Hurd and Kendall Harrington with five each. Harrington was also the Cru's assist leader with 12, followed by Caitlyn Ellenburg with 11. Defensively, Faith Clark led with 13 digs while Caiden Lasala added 10. UMHB also totaled 10 blocks in the match, led by Hurd with seven assisted putbacks.
 
The Cru returns to action on Saturday, September 28^th in a 2 p.m. contest at LeTourneau University in Longview.