ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University and Schreiner University faced off for the second time this season on Thursday at Kimbrell Arena. After Schreiner took the first match in a competitive 3-0 sweep, McMurry settled the score with a thrilling 3-1 win in front of its home fans.
McMurry (3-5) avenged its season-opening loss with 75 total points, winning each of the first two sets by a two-point margin. After falling 27-25 in the third set, McMurry had its most efficient set of the match to clinch the victory. McMurry also had a gritty 31-29 win in the second set.
Schreiner (1-3) and McMurry had the same amount of kills with 55, but the War Hawks recorded 11 service aces and nine blocks to ignite the crowd. The Mountaineers had just four of each.
McMurry 3, Schreiner 1 (25-23, 31-29, 25-27, 25-17)
Summary: McMurry's
Madison Cuellar and Schreiner's Brooke Byer went toe-to-toe with impressive matches, with Cuellar leading McMurry with 21 digs, 14 kills and a game-high six service aces. Byer countered with a game-high 25 kills and 21 digs. Defensively,
Megan Martinez fueled McMurry with a game-high seven blocks – matching her career high. Freshman
Ashlyn Quillan provided a change of pace at setter, recording a career-high 28 assists, while usual starter
Myranda Salcedo added 16.
Set 1: The first set had 10 ties, with both teams trading kills in a thrilling set. Between the two sides, there were 30 kills and just nine errors. McMurry seemed in danger behind 23-21, but pulled out a gutsy set win with three straight kills from
Kaylie Vasil to take the lead. At 24-23, Salcedo finished things off with a surprise kill on an assist from Martinez. The sophomore tandem of Cuellar and Vasil combined for 11 of McMurry's 17 kills.
Set 2: The most exciting and momentum-swinging set came in the second frame, as Schreiner looked to level the score by jumping to an early 3-0 lead. From there, the lead changed a handful of times before McMurry won four straight points to break a 9-9 tie. Later, Schreiner pulled within one at 19-18, but McMurry re-extended the lead to 24-20. On the verge of falling behind two sets, Schreiner had three kills from Byer and used one attack error by McMurry to survive the threat. This set up a thrilling back-and-forth, with Schreiner avoiding set point four times. McMurry was also in danger of losing the set, behind 27-26 before a Vasil kill kept the set alive. Eventually, the War Hawks finished with a 31-29 set win thanks to a ball handling error by Schreiner and a kill from
Megan Martinez.
Set 3: With the crowd fully alive, Schreiner had to battle the noise. They quieted the crowd early in the set, taking a 10-4 lead and later led by double digits at 17-6. McMurry was never out of it despite the deficit, hanging around until Schreiner was on the verge of clinching at 24-18. In an improbable comeback effort, McMurry took a 25-24 lead with a 7-0 run. In that run, there were three attack errors and a service error by Schreiner, two kills by Martinez and a service ace by libero
Adile Leal. McMurry couldn't finish the comeback, as SU scored three straight to stay alive.
Set 4: McMurry had just two errors on 13 kills and 33 attacks for a .333 percentage, cruising to victory in the final frame. Both teams traded early 5-0 runs to even the score, but McMurry eventually used a 7-0 run to pull away midway through. Schreiner never got back within five of McMurry, as the home crowd was sent home happy with Vasil's final kill to close it.
UP NEXT
The first match in the Dyess Cup battle begins on Saturday, as McMurry Volleyball takes on crosstown rival Hardin-Simmons (0-2) at the HSU Mabee Complex. First serve is at 11 a.m.
