SAN MARCOS, Texas – HBU dropped the first set in both of its matches, but came back to roll in the next three for a pair of 3-1 victories over UMass Lowell and UTSA in the Creeds & Crests Volleyball Classic Friday at Strahan Coliseum. The Huskies (7-0) are off to their best start since beginning the 2007 season 8-0.
"We had two really good team wins today," HBU head coach
Trent Herman said. "We played very well together and fed off of each other. It was a great defensive effort in the UTSA match paired with a high hitting efficiency. The UMass Lowell match saw us play strong at the net with our blocking, which helped ignite the offense late."
HBU fell in the first set to UTSA, before evening the match in the second and rolling after the break for an 18-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-12 victory.
Senior outside hitters
Jessica Wooten and
Bailey Banks each recorded a double-double for the fifth-straight match. Wooten had 17 kills, 12 digs and four blocks for her sixth-straight double-double, while Banks had 12 kills and a team-leading 19 digs. Senior middle blocker
Blair Gillard posted 10 kills and eight blocks, with junior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport and freshman
Mikayla Vivens adding five kills each. Junior setter
Madison O'Brien tallied 42 assists, a career-high seven kills and five digs, while senior libero
Hailey Erickson came up with 13 digs.
Brianna McCulloch led the Roadrunners (0-8) with 15 kills and seven digs, while Marijeta Runjic had 10 kills. Shelby Williams paced UTSA defensively with 21 digs, Amanda Gonzales had 24 assists and nine digs and Ashley Dominguez added 12 assists.
HBU hit .333 in the match and held UTSA to a .176 hitting percentage. The Huskies outdug the Roadrunners, 56-54, outblocked them, 10-3, and outaced them, 6-4.
UTSA took a 6-2 lead in the first, but HBU rebounded to lead 8-7. The two teams were within a point of one another until the Roadrunners went up by two at 15-13. Leading 20-18, UTSA scored the final five points of the set, behind a pair of kills by McCulloch, for a 25-18 win.
The Huskies and Roadrunners traded the lead for much of the second set until UTSA scored three-straight points to take a 22-18 advantage. HBU responded by reeling off a six-point run, with Banks providing two kills, to get to set point. UTSA got a kill from Kara Teal to close within one, but Davenport slammed down the final point of the set to escape with a 25-23 decision.
Early in the third, HBU scored five in a row on a pair of kills each by Wooten and O'Brien and an ace by sophomore defensive specialist
Hannah Lewis to lead 9-4. UTSA was only able to get to within four at 17-13, before the Huskies took the set, 25-17.
The Huskies scored the first four points of the fourth and never relinquished the lead. A kill and an ace by Wooten and back-to-back kills by Gillard extended the lead to 14-5 and another four-point surge built up an 11-point cushion at 18-7. Gillard provided the final point of the match with a kill for a 25-12 victory.
Against UML, the Huskies recorded a 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 victory.
Banks led HBU with 13 kills and had 20 digs, with
Jessica Wooten notching 11 kills and 20 digs. Gillard, Davenport and redshirt freshman right side
Ashtyn Richey each had eight kills and posted 19 blocks between them. Gillard led the way with eight, Davenport had six and Richey had a career-high five. O'Brien dished out 39 assists, had a career-high 17 digs and added three kills, while Erickson chipped in with 10 digs.
Katherine Claybaugh led the River Hawks (3-4) with 14 kills and added 11 digs and Haley Shimon added nine kills and eight digs. Lindsey Visvardis anchored UML defensively with 33 digs and Delaney Mendez handed out 36 assists.
The Huskies hit .229, while holding the River Hawks to .107. UML edged HBU in digs, 79-78, and aces, 4-3, but the Huskies outblocked the River Hawks, 14-5.
Claybaugh had half of her kills in the first set when UML hit .261 and HBU only blocked one attempt. The set was tied, 13-13, and back-to-back aces by Erica Cappellino were enough to give the River Hawks the lead for good as they went on to a 25-21 decision.
HBU made the adjustment and had six blocks, four by Gilllard, in the second to hold UML to an .023 hitting percentage. Banks had five kills and Wooten had four as the Huskies led wire-to-wire in a 25-19 win.
Gillard dominated the third, hitting .800 with four kills, no errors and two blocks, including one solo. The frame was tied, 4-4, until a Gillard kill sparked a four-point run. UML scored three in a row to pull back within one at 10-9, but HBU answered with another four-point outburst to lead by five. After the River Hawks closed the gap to 17-16, Gillard responded with a kill and a block to put the Huskies back up by three and they would go on to claim the set, 25-22.
The Huskies jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth, ripping off six-straight points, which included back-to-back blocks by Davenport and Richey and a kill from each. HBU led 10-5 when it scored four in a row, which included a kill and a block by Gillard and an ace by Erickson, to extend the lead to nine. The Huskies led by as many as 10 before clinching the match, 25-16.
The Huskies wrap up the tournament against host Texas State in the finale Saturday at 5 p.m.
