ABILENE, TEXAS – McMurry University gave the American Southwest Conference leaders all they could handle Friday, Oct. 6, in Kimbrell Arena.

Despite falling behind 7-0 in the first set, head coach Cammie Petree's War Hawks tightened the screws defensively and pushed East Texas Baptist University until they could push no more in a 20-25, 20-25, 13-25 loss. The team never let up and kept most of the 140 fans on the edge of their seats as the War Hawks had a 4-0 run in the middle of the first stanza and finished it on an 8-3 tear.

McMurry's momentum carried over into the second set with a 3-0 run at the start, and the War Hawks duplicated that feat later in the stanza. The second set had 12 ties and five lead changes and was punctuated by a fantastic volley. Although the home team battled in the last set, they couldn't maintain a constant rhythm.

Junior outside hitter Jacee Dinkins (Azle, Texas) had eight of the team's 18 kills and was followed by freshman middle/right-side hitter Rylie Patterson (Amarillo, Texas), who contributed four. Freshman setter Allison Montoya (Fort Worth, Texas) led the team with seven of its 15 assists, and junior setter Ashlyn Quillan (Van Alstyne, Texas) had six.

The team finished with 54 digs, with senior defensive specialist/libero Adile Leal (Clute, Texas) being responsible for 19 of them. Junior defensive specialist/libero Hannah Page (Lubbock, Texas) contributed nine digs, Quillan added eight, and sophomore defensive specialist/libero Isabela Dorsey (Waco, Texas) and Dinkins had six. McMurry tallied four total blocks. Senior middle/right-side hitter Addyson Tiffin (Bushland, Texas) totaled a solo block and two block attempts.

The Maroon and White finish a weekend home set on Saturday, Oct. 7.  The University of Texas-Dallas is the opponent in a noon first serve.