Women's Volleyball 10/27/2012 1:33:00 AM

Volleyball Overpowers Oklahoma Panhandle

Box Score LAREDO, Texas - The TAMIU volleyball team finished with season-high .392 attack percentage and held Oklahoma Panhandle State to a paltry .043, as the Dustdevils rolled over Oklahoma Panhandle State in straight sets (25-11, 25-6, 25-22) Thursday night at the TAMIU KCB.

TAMIU improves to 13-9 on the season and 5-5 in conference with the win, while the Aggies fall to 4-20 and 0-11 in conference.

Freshman middle Paige Criss led the Dustdevils hitting .563 for the match while recording a season-high 10 kills to go along with 3.5 blocks.

"I focused on raising my level of intensity in practice this week and it carried over into tonight's match," said Criss. "The whole team played well, everyone contributed. We struggled a bit in the final set, but we were able to regroup and finish them off."

TAMIU totaled 47 total kills on the match versus only 21 for the visitors. The Dustdevils also outdug their opponents 50-31 and outblocked them 8-2.

Senior outside hitter Andrea Marshall finished with a game-high 11 kills and added five digs. Senior Daria Winckler chipped in a game-high 21 assists, while junior Desiree Ortiz picked up a game-high 18 digs. Freshman reserve setter Lizzie Prieto had her best performance of the season finishing with 14 assists and three digs.

"Coach Sano is always telling us to play at our pace and not our opponents," said Prieto. "In the final set we started to let them change the pace on us, but we were able to regroup and finish them off.

TAMIU came out sharp from the get-go, using a couple of big runs to grab a 13-4 lead in the opening set. The aggies countered with a 3-1 run to pull within seven, but there was no slowing down the Dustdevils. TAMIU rattled off a 9-2 run to grab a commanding 23-9 lead before Andrea Marshall and Jaquelynne Matula put down the final two kills to seal the 25-11 win.

The Dustdevils opened the second set with an 8-0 run before the Aggies ever got on the board. With TAMIU leading 10-5, another Matula kill kicked off a 14-0 run to give TAMIU a 24-5 lead. Andrea Marshall fired home the final kill to give the Dustdevils a 25-6 win.

In the final set TAMIU relied primarily on their reserves. Despite the Dustdevils' 5-1 run to start the third set, the Aggies fought their way back to an 11-8 lead. Trailing 17-14, The Dustdevils rallied with a 6-1 run to grab a 20-18 lead. OPSU won four of the next six points to level the game at 22, but three straight kills from Tierney Bannon-Coad, Jacquelynne Matulla, and Toriana Goods gave TAMIU the 25-22 win.

The Dustdevils have four conference games remaining, as they battle for the final spot in the upcoming Heartland Conference Tournament. They return to the court November 1 at 7 p.m. to battle top ranked Arkansas Fort Smith, before hosting Newman on November 3. TAMIU closes out the season with road matches versus Dallas Baptist and St. Edward's on November 8 and 10 respectively

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