BELTON, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's volleyball team beat East Texas Baptist 3-1 Saturday afternoon in Belton. This win improved the Cru 12-4 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
Set one started with the Cru taking a nine point lead 12-3 with kills from
Natalie Hughes and
Lilli Sandoval. The lead continued to grow with the Cru going on consecutive runs extending the lead to 18-9. ETBU fought back with kills of their own before
Kaysen Miller sealed the first set win with a kill 25-20.
Set two began with the Cru taking a four point lead 6-2. ETBU tied the match at 8-8 with a kill by Lara Hornsby. The two teams exchanged points back and forth with three lead changes until ETBU began to pull ahead at the 19-14 mark. ETBU took set two with a kill by McKinzie Riley 25-20.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle with four lead changes and no team having a larger lead than three points. The Cru began to pull ahead with a kill from
Natalie Hughes to make the score 19-15. ETBU closed the gap with kills of their own to bring the score to 21-18. Kills from
Addison Yates and
Lilli Sandoval secured the third set win 25-19.
Set four continued to be a battle. The two teams exchanged point-for-point before the Cru took control gaining a six-point lead making the score 16-10. ETBU fought back and closed the gap to 23-22. The Cru secured the fourth set win 26-24 with a major kill by
Lilli Sandoval.
Lilli Sandoval led the Cru with 12 kills while
Addison Yates and
Natalie Hughes both had 11 kills.
Ava Ribakovs led the Cru with 25 assists and
Chloe Brandt added 17 assists.
Angie Garcia was a defensive force for the Cru tallying 20 digs, while
Natalie Hughes,
Kaysen Miller, and
Lilli Sandoval all added seven digs.
Natalie Hughes had two solo blocks, while
Ava Ribakovs and
Allie Thompson both added one.
UMHB returns to action on Tuesday, October 6th in a 6 p.m. contest against McMurry University in Abilene.
