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LAREDO, Texas – The Texas A&M International home opener displayed the ferocity of the Heartland Conference in front of a raucous crowd on Greek Night at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Thursday night.
Unfortunately for the Dustdevils, they were on the receiving end of the Heartland’s harsh competition when in-state rival St. Edward’s visited. The Hilltoppers won the grit-grizzled match, 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22), in front of more than 600 Dustdevil supporters.
St. Edward’s (3-6, 1-0 Heartland) never appeared dominant – despite the scoreline of the final three games – over the Dustdevils (1-9, 0-3 Heartland). The match featured 12 score-tying plays and six lead changes – including four apiece in the deciding game 4.
TAMIU’s attack was crisp, for the most part, as they hammered a .187 hitting percentage fueled by sophomore setter Lizzie Prieto’s 37 assists. The Dustdevils featured only five assists not attributed to the Alexander High product.
Toriana Goods (14 kills, 2 aces, 1 block) and Alex Ciszek (12, 1, 0) mounted the most mesmerizing and muscle-flexing attacks, registering 16.5 and 13 points respectively.
Defensively, Desiree Ortiz (28 digs) and Sophia Quinones (10) shoveled TAMIU out of trouble, with Tierney Bannon-Coad contributing nine digs as well.
The first game began with a bang for the home team. The Dustdevils blanked the Hilltoppers as far as hitting percentages go, forcing eight errors and allowing only eight kills on 40 total attacks.
St. Edward’s rebounded well, refusing to hit below .200 to close the match with a .212 (game 2), .326 (game 3) and .310 (game 4).
The Dustdevils will play the season’s second home game on Saturday at noon against Heartland rival McMurry at the KCB. They will then take off on a four-match road trip, returning on Oct. 10 to host Dallas Baptist.
Thursday’s Greek Night featured a Pre-Game Fiesta with food, music and activities hosted by TAMIU’s Greek Council and Student Government Association and concluded with a special autograph session and meet-and-greet between the Dustdevils and their fans. More than 100 supporters stayed to collect official TAMIU Athletics posters signed by the team or to take advantage of photo opportunities with the student-athletes.
