BROWNWOOD, Texas – McMurry University opened its conference volleyball schedule with a statement win Tuesday evening, overcoming an early deficit to cruise past Howard Payne in Brownwood, Texas by a 3-1 final.

McMurry (2-3, 1-0 American Southwest Conference) dropped a close set in the opening frame, but then powered its way to victory with a 75-34 point run the rest of the way. Howard Payne fell to 0-1 in its season opener.

The War Hawks played their most efficient game of the season so far, making 49 kills with just 10 errors on 109 attacks for a strong .358 attack percentage – all season bests. HPU had 13 kills in the opening frame, but had just 15 kills and 19 errors in the final three sets.


McMurry 3, Howard Payne 1 (20-25, 25-8, 25-15, 25-11)

Summary: McMurry out-killed HPU 49-28 and had a season-high 12 service aces in the win. Sophomore Madison Cuellar led the team with 11 kills, while seniors Tyler Richardson and Megan Martinez had eight. Cuellar also had five aces. Senior Myranda Salcedo just missed a double-double, recording 17 assists and nine digs. Defensively, sophomore Kaylie Vasil led the way in digs with 15, while Martinez had a team-high five blocks.

Set 1: The Yellow Jackets came out of the gate strong with 13 kills and just three errors in the first set, jumping to an 8-2 lead in the first 10 points and holding that lead the whole set. McMurry also played well in the set, pulling within three points with multiple runs, but could not catch up.

Set 2: The momentum ran out for HPU in the final sets, as McMurry took over with its most lopsided set of the season. Mixing up the lineup from what they started with, the War Hawks had 13 kills and just one error on 22 attacks for an impressive .545 percentage to even things up. Meanwhile, HPU had just two kills and six errors in the set. Leading 12-5, McMurry scored 13 of the final 16 points. Cuellar had four kills, while sophomore Addyson Tiffin added three in the frame.

Set 3: The War Hawks had 14 kills in the third, taking the swing set despite tight opposition. Midway through the third, the Yellow Jackets were within three at a 15-12 deficit. From that point, McMurry used a kill by freshman Bri Garcia and three service aces by Cuellar to spark a long 7-0 run. Martinez ended any threat of a comeback ahead 24-15 with a powerful kill. Richardson led the way with five kills, while Garcia added three in the set.

Set 4: McMurry erased any doubt with another strong set, taking 11 of 12 points midway through to gain a 20-8 advantage. After a service error gave possession back to HPU, McMurry scored four more to set up match point. HPU stayed alive with two points, but a service error ended the run. The War Hawks played another clean set with 11 kills and two errors on 25 attacks, while HPU had a game-high eight errors in the final frame.


UP NEXT 
The War Hawks continue conference play against Sul Ross State on Saturday, Sept. 11 in Alpine, Texas. First serve is set for 12 p.m.