BROWNWOOD, Texas – McMurry University Volleyball extended its win streak to six games on Tuesday evening, sweeping Howard Payne University in six straight sets for a pair of 3-0 wins inside Brownwood Coliseum.
The War Hawks are now 10-2 overall and in American Southwest Conference play, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 3-15 overall and 0-14 in the conference.
GAME 1 – McMurry 3, Howard Payne 1 (25-14, 25-13, 25-17)
Summary: Junior
Tyler Richardson had 10 kills, junior
Myranda Salcedo stepped in with 20 assists and sophomore
Adile Leal had 17 digs to lead McMurry to a dominant 3-0 sweep in game one. Freshman
Madison Cuellar had an 11 dig, six kill day to aid the effort. The War Hawks also had an eyebrow-raising 11-4 advantage in service aces and also had a 33-22 advantage in kills.
Set 1: McMurry took 10 of the first 12 points to assert themselves into the contest and followed that up with a 4-0 run midway through to take an 18-10 lead. Two freshmen connected for the final kill of the set, as
Aubrie Sibley set up
Brooke Cox for the final kill. The War Hawks had 15 kills while limiting HPU to six in the set.
Tyler Richardson did one-third of the damage with five point-enders.
Set 2: From a kill standpoint, the second set was fairly even, but an 8-0 run to open the set was too much to overcome for the home-standing Yellow Jackets. Five of the first eight points came from
Myranda Salcedo on the serve, as she recorded five aces to kick-start the War Hawks. Salcedo also had six assists in the set. Richardson had the final kill to make it 25-13.
Set 3: The War Hawks played its cleanest set of the night with 10 kills and just two attack errors for a 25-17 match-clincher. HPU took three of the first four points, but McMurry scored five straight after that to make it 6-3 early. McMurry never trailed again after that, ending things with two final kills from
Madison Cuellar and
Brooke Cox on assists from
Adile Leal.
GAME 2 – McMurry 3, Howard Payne 0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-19)
Summary: A competitive nightcap saw Howard Payne lead in kills in two of the three sets, but the War Hawks had more blocks and fewer errors to counter and pick up the narrow sweep.
Kianni Mitchell and
Madison Cuellar had nine kills apiece, while
Adile Leal and
Kaylie Vasil led with 15 digs each. Freshman
Aubrie Sibley took the bulk of the load at the setter spot with 19 assists, while
Myranda Salcedo added 13.
Set 1: Despite being out-killed 13-12 by HPU, McMurry rallied back from a 16-13 deficit to take the opening frame. Sparked by a 7-0 run midway through the set, McMurry ended the threat with four straight points.
Kianni Mitchell had four of McMurry's kills to lead the way. Though HPU had one more kill, six errors would harm their efforts. McMurry finished with just two attack errors.
Set 2: McMurry was in jeopardy of losing the sweep in set two, a both teams remained neck-and-neck until HPU forced a set point ahead 24-23. Mitchell put down a kill from middle to right to keep McMurry alive, but HPU again found the advantage at 25-24 with a return kill by Mya Ross. The War Hawks again survived thanks to an attack error, then took the advantage with a kill by
Megan Martinez. A bad set on the other side gave McMurry a thrilling set point.
Set 3: With set two too close for comfort, the War Hawks came out motivated in the third frame and forced an early HPU timeout with a 7-0 run. Coming out of the break, McMurry cruised to a 14-1 advantage. The Yellow Jackets rallied back to force a McMurry timeout, closing the gap to 16-10. HPU continued to rally and made it 23-19 before McMurry ended with the final points on a Cuellar kill and a Salcedo ace.
UP NEXT
The War Hawks return to Kimbrell Arena on Saturday, March 20 for a senior day battle against West Division leader Mary Hardin-Baylor. The doubleheader is set to begin at 2 p.m.
