ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University volleyball team earned its biggest win of the season on Saturday, as the War Hawks split a doubleheader against fourth-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor with a 3-0 sweep and a 3-1 loss inside Kimbrell Arena.
UMHB remains the American Southwest Conference West Division Leader with a 12-2 record, while McMurry sits one game back at 11-3 in conference play.
Four of the seven sets in today's twinbill ended in a two-point differential. McMurry had a dominant edge in points for the first game (58-36), but were slightly edged in the second contest (69-66).
Saturday served as senior day for McMurry's Kianni Mitchell, Megan Martinez and Brynn Wilson.
GAME 1 – McMurry 3, UMHB 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23)
Summary: McMurry stunned the nationally-ranked Lady Cru in game one with a three-game sweep, using 43 kills, six blocks and nine service aces to down UMHB. Megan Martinez celebrated senior day with a game-high 12 kills, while Adile Leal added 17 digs and Myranda Salcedo had 17 assists. Senior Kianni Mitchell made her presence felt with five blocks. Junior Tyler Richardson contributed eight kills and four blocks, and freshman Kaylie Vasil had nine kills and 17 digs in a solid effort.
Set 1: Ahead 11-8 in the opening frame, McMurry went on an impressive 7-0 run behind four kills to lead by 10 points. Later in the set, McMurry led 24-15 following a kill by Kaylie Vasil on a dish from senior Brynn Wilson, but UMHB kept things alive with four straight points. Following an attack error to make it 24-19, Vasil atoned for her mistake with the final kill to secure the set.
Set 2: Both teams found their scoring from short scoring spurts throughout the set as the lead changed seven times. With a 22-21 edge in the latter part of the set, McMurry took advantage of a UMHB service error and scored the final two points for the win. McM had 12 kills to UMHB's nine.
Set 3: UMHB did everything it could to salvage the match in set three, taking a 17-13 lead midway through, but the War Hawks tied the game back up with five straight kill points from Vasil, Richardson, Martinez – twice – and Salcedo to make it 20-20. UMHB took the next two points to put the pressure on, but the War Hawks had five of the last six points go their way.
GAME 2 – UMHB 3, McMurry 1 (25-23, 25-27, 26-28, 15-25)
Summary: Both teams had exactly 100 digs in a very balanced matchup, but UMHB caught a few more breaks to break even in the doubleheader. The War Hawks had a 52-51 edge in kills, but unfortunately, had 31 errors to just 22 by the Lady Cru. Kaylie Vasil led the team with a game-high 17 kills and had 15 assists for the double-double. Three players had 20-plus digs for McMurry, led by Adile Leal with 26. Senior Brynn Wilson had a double-double with 21 digs and 17 assists.
Set 1: The War Hawks won their fourth straight set of the day in a set that saw eight tie-game situations. Trailing 22-21, McMurry's Kianni Mitchell drove one into the ground on the other side to retie the set. A couple of miscues made it 24-22, but a kill by UMHB pull them back within one. Vasil would be the hero again in the opening frame, getting the final kill on an assist from Wilson.
Set 2: UMHB finally caught a stroke of luck in the second frame, scoring the first five points for the early lead. Later in the set, McMurry used a 4-0 run to battle back to a 17-17 game behind two service aces from Myranda Salcedo. Down to its final chance down 24-22, McMurry won three straight points to make it 25-24, two of which came from Vasil kills. Needing one more to secure the set, McMurry surrendered two kills and had an attack error to drop the set.
Set 3: The longest set of the night, the lead changed nine times in a thriller. Down 16-15, it seemed McMurry had the momentum with five straight points on three UMHB errors, a service ace by Vasil and a kill by Megan Martinez. The War Hawks later led 24-19, but were unable to close the set as UMHB evened the score with five straight points. McMurry had the set point in their grasp twice after that, but UMHB got the final three kills to win 28-26.
Set 4: UMHB's best set of the night came in the clincher, as they won 10 of the first 11 points. The War Hawks never seemed to recover despite battling back from the deficit, pulling within eight points before UMHB ended with a pair of kills from Lauren Williams and Hannah Frasca.
UP NEXT
The War Hawks will play their final regular season road game next Saturday, March 27 as they travel to Sul Ross State in Alpine, Texas. First serve for the doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m.
