SHERMAN, Texas – McMurry University Volleyball started regular season play on Friday at the Austin College Tournament in Sherman, Texas, taking on a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) foes in Schreiner and Austin College in crossover play.

The War Hawks (0-2) were unable to pull a victory Friday, falling 3-0 to the Mountaineers and 3-1 to Austin College in two competitive matchups.


GAME 1 – Schreiner 3, McMurry 0 (26-28, 22-25, 16-25)

Summary: The War Hawks poured on the kills in its season opener, but the Schreiner Mountaineers were a bit more efficient in a competitive 3-0 sweep. McMurry had a 44-43 advantage in kills, but had 18 attack errors and gave up seven aces in a tight battle. Sophomore Kaylie Vasil led the team with 12 kills and 13 digs for a double-double. Senior Myranda Salcedo added a team-best 23 sets, while junior Adile Leal had a team-leading 14 digs. Senior Megan Martinez had three blocks.

Set 1: The War Hawks and Mountaineers were neck and neck nearly the whole way in the opening frame, battling to an eventual 24-24 tie. True freshman Bri Garcia put Schreiner on the ropes with a kill to set up set point, but the Mountaineers survived on an attack error. McMurry was later down to its last point down 26-25, but Vasil kept it alive with a clutch kill. Schreiner got the final two points. McMurry had 17 kills in the set with eight errors, while Schreiner had 15 kills and five errors.

Set 2: McMurry was the early favorite in set two, never trailing until Schreiner took a 14-13 lead. Later, a 4-0 run made it 19-16 in favor of Schreiner, who went on the finish the set by a small margin. Sophomore duo Madison Cuellar and Kaylie Vasil combined for 10 kills in the set.

Set 3: Schreiner never trailed in the final set, capping their win with a 25-16 set victory. The Mountaineers jumped to an 8-3 lead. McMurry pulled within two points at 15-13, but the opposition proved to be too much with 14 kills and just two errors. Six different War Hawks recorded a kill in the set.


GAME 2 – Austin College 3, McMurry 1 (17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 21-25)

Summary: Austin College improved to a 4-0 record with a four set win over McMurry, handing business in the first two sets. McMurry surged back against the home team with a third set win, but were edged in the fourth. Hitting percentage proved to be the difference, as the 'Roos finished at .229 with 44 kills and 11 errors. The War Hawks had 40 kills on 148 attacks, but were hurt by 38 attack errors for a .014 percentage. Senior Tyler Richardson had eight kills, while Salcedo and Leal led the team in sets and digs once again. Freshman Addison Kimberling and sophomore Addyson Tiffin each had a pair of blocks.  

Set 1: McMurry fell victim to a flawless set from Austin College, as the 'Roos had zero errors and 12 kills on 30 attacks for a .400 percentage. Nonetheless, things were tight in the beginning. McMurry fell behind 12-8 at one point, but took the lead with a 5-0 run that included two service aces from Salcedo. Austin College would recover from the deficit and control the latter part of the set.

Set 2: The teams traded points early in the second set, but things took a swing in favor of the home team when the 'Roos earned four in a row to make it 15-10. Austin College controlled the lead from that point with seven of their last 10 points coming on kills. For McMurry, Vasil, Richardson and Kimberling each had two kills.

Set 3: The War Hawks were down, but not out, coming back to win a thrilling third set. Despite an early 6-2 deficit, McMurry found its way to an 11-10 lead midway through. After trading points down the stretch, McMurry had a kill from freshman Jacee Dinkins to make it 20-19. Once again, the teams traded points, but it would be Richardson with the big kill to make it 24-22. Victoria Smith put her team back within one with a kill of her own, but she had a service error on the next point to end it.  Richardson and Dinkins had three kills each that set.

Set 4: Austin College took its most dominant lead of the game in the fourth set, taking nine of the first 10 points to lead 9-1 early. The War Hawks were not discouraged and scratched and clawed back into the game, forcing an Austin timeout after pulling within two, 17-15. The 'Roos regrouped and later found themselves ahead 24-18. On the ropes, McMurry survived thanks to a service error, a bad set and an attack error by AC. The run would eventually end at 25-21, closing the match.

UP NEXT 
The War Hawks move on to Irving, Texas to take on Arlington Baptist tomorrow at noon and University of Dallas at 4 p.m. Saturday's games will be hosted by the University of Dallas.