ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Volleyball opened the home portion of its 2019 schedule Friday night, sweeping visiting Arlington Baptist University 25-20, 25-15, 25-17 in Kimbrell Arena.
The War Hawks (5-0) used all 19 players at their disposal, giving the younger players valuable game experience.
McMurry jumped out early in the first set and never trailed, as they totaled 14 kills on a .205 attacking percentage in the first stanza. Junior middle blocker Megan Martinez had four of her team-high seven kills in the first set.
The reserves started the second set for McM, with the lineup consisting of five freshmen and junior transfer Brynn Warnack in the middle of the set. While the attack percentage was the lowest of the three sets, McMurry played its best defensive set of the match, holding the Patriots to a -.174 attack percentage. McMurry also had its largest lead in any set, at 22-10.
Arlington Baptist started strong in the third set, building up an 11-5 advantage to force an McM timeout. McMurry responded out of the break, scoring five straight and 11 of 13 to take a 16-13 lead. The Patriots committed six errors during that period while senior middle blocker Kianni Mitchell slammed down three kills.
Overall, McM hit .208 for the match and held the Patriots to .042. The War Hawks also had nine service aces.
Junior setter Lauryn Davis recorded her second double-double of the year, tallying 15 assists and 10 digs. Warnack added nine assists, while sophomore setter Myranda Salcedo chipped in with seven.
Three players recorded four digs, and freshman outside hitter Sharanda Anderson was second on the team with six digs.
Senior right side hitter Justice McGowan totaled six kills, while four players recorded four digs and 10 players had at least two kills.
Next up for the War Hawks are back-to-back games against Schreiner University. They visit the Mountaineers Tuesday at 6 p.m. before facing them again September 13 at the University of Dallas tournament. This will mark the second and third times out of four the War Hawks will face Schreiner this season.
