ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Volleyball clinched a berth in the American Southwest Conference Tournament Thursday night with a sweep of crosstown rival Hardin-Simmons University, 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 in Kimbrell Arena.
Trailing 11-8 in the first set, the War Hawks (21-5, 10-4 ASC) went on a 10-1 run to take control of the set. Though the Cowgirls (15-9, 7-7 ASC) made a late rally to trail by just one, McMurry scored the final five points the set, including the last three on Cowgirl attack errors.
Junior middle blocker Justice McGowan had five of her eight kills in the first set, and also recorded two assisted and two solo blocks in the set. McGowan teamed up with senior outside hitter Jasmine Jones numerous times at the net. McGowan finished the match with five assisted blocks while Jones finished with four. Jones had a team-high 10 kills.
Hardin-Simmons led for the first half of the second set, before the War Hawks used a 7-1 run highlighted by a pair of the aforementioned blocks by McGowan and Jones for a 19-14 lead. McMurry closed the set with the final three points getting two kills from junior middle blocker Kianni Mitchell. Mitchell finished with nine kills.
McMurry never trailed in the third set, hitting .382 to put the match away. The War Hawks also hit over .300 in the first set at .353. For the match, McMurry hit .308 while holding the Cowgirls to .098. Mitchell led the War Hawks with a .563 attacking percentage with junior middle blocker Jordyn Burnell and McGowan hitting .538 and .471, respectively. Burnell also added eight kills.
Senior libero Odalis Rodriguez led three War Hawks in double figure digs with 14, as sophomore setter Lauryn Davis collected 13 digs. Burnell chipped in with 11.
Setting up the offense all night, junior setter Emarie James dished out 22 assists. Davis and Rodriguez passed out eight and seven assists, respectively.
The War Hawks more than made up for not collecting an ace, compared to six for the Cowgirls, collecting 11 total blocks at the net.
McMurry closes out the home portion of the schedule Tuesday with Senior Night against Arlington Baptist University at 6 p.m. in Kimbrell Arena.
