Women's Volleyball 9/14/2012 1:19:00 AM

Volleyball Drops Third Straight

Box Score
ABILENE, Texas – TAMIU Volleyball’s early season struggles continued Thursday night as the Dustdevils were defeated in straight sets by McMurry University 22-25, 22-25, and 20-25.

Team leaders in kills Andrea Marshall and Alex Ciszek combined for only nine kills on the night and the Dustdevils finished with a season worst .040 hitting percentage.

“Unfortunately tonight we did not put forth a sustained effort and McMurry earned a good win,” said Head Coach Marlon Sano. “Toriana Goods came off the bench and gave us a nice spark, but it was not enough. We have a short turnaround to our next match against UT Permian Basin and I’m confident that the team will be prepared to battle and win.”

Miranda Pratt was a bright spot for TAMIU finishing with a season high 10 kills, followed by Jacquelynne Matula with six. Desiree Ortiz racked up a game high 22 digs, while Daria Winckler led TAMIU with 24 assists.

In the opening set the Dustdevils started out to 3-2 lead, but back-to-back errors gave the War Hawks a lead they would not relinquish. TAMIU fought their way back to an 8-8 tie before McMurry rattled off a 5-1 run to take a 9-13 lead. The Dustdevils pulled within one point at 17-18, but the War Hawks closed the set with a 7-5 run to get the win 22-25.

The second set was more closely contested, featuring eight ties and three lead changes. Trailing 17-20 late in the set, kills by Ciszek and Pratt capped a 3-0 run to even the score. Once again the War Hawks were the stronger team in the vital moment, closing on a 5-2 run to take set two 22-25.

In the final set the Dustdevils never led and finished with more errors than kills, hitting -.029 as a team. After trailing 4-1 to start, TAMIU rallied to pull within one point at 9-10. Another well timed run by the War Hawks would quickly end the threat, as McMurry scored the next five straight points to grab a 9-15 lead. TAMIU managed to trim the lead down to 19-22 late in the set, but the home team ended the match with a 3-1 run winning 20-25.

Although the loss drops TAMIU's overall record to 2-5 on the season, it does not affect their conference record given McMurry's provisional membership in the Heartland Conference. Next on the dockett for the Dustdevils is a match up with UT Permian Basin scheduled for Saturday, September 15 at noon in Odessa, Texas.

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