Box Score WICHITA, Kan. – A power struggle in Kansas featured a pair of Heartland Conference competitors exchanging blows in their first meeting of the season on Thursday. The Texas A&M International Dustdevils paid a visit to the Newman Lady Jets in an eventual 3-1 (25-14, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15) Dustdevils defeat.
With the victory, the Lady Jets improve to an even .500 (6-6, 3-4 Heartland) while the Dustdevils fall to 1-13 (0-6 Heartland).
The firefight at the Fugate Gymnasium featured eight athletes with double-digit point totals between the two teams. TAMIU’s Alex Ciszek (14 points), Toriana Goods (13.5) and Paige Criss (11) combined for 38.5 of the Dustdevils’ 58 total points, but that total fell short against Newman’s Jarin Braithwait (16.5), Gaylynn Jones (16), Jeana Farruggia (14), Ashley Gonzalez (11.5) and Alexus Litts (10). Those five Lady Jets combined for 57 of Newman’s 80 points.
For TAMIU, Goods and Ciszek led the high-powered hitters with 12 kills apiece. Both also blocked two attacks, while Ciszek blasted one service ace. Criss committed seven kills, and team captain Miranda Pratt buried six to match Lizzie Prieto’s kill total.
Criss led the Dustdevils on defense with six blocks, while Desiree Ortiz dug out a team-high 21 balls. Goods followed that with 12 digs, while Koral Wright had nine and Sophia Quinones had eight.
Prieto pitched in with 37 assists – the Dustdevils recorded only 43 assists as a team. She also had six digs and 8.5 points.
The high-scoring shootout featured 16 score-tying plays and six lead changes, with all but four momentum-shifting series coming in the third game.
TAMIU will wrap its four-game away stint with a Friday faceoff against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 7 p.m. TAMIU sits in 10th place in the conference while OPSU (2-11, 0-7 Heartland) is also winless in conference play but sits a game behind the Dustdevils in the loss column.
The Dustdevils return home to the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Oct. 10 to host Dallas Baptist on its annual Dig Pink Game to raise breast cancer awareness.
