BELTON, Texas - McMurry fought hard but saw its 2026 campaign end with a straight-sets loss to Schreiner on Thursday in the American Southwest Conference Tournament Quarterfinal.
The 25-10, 25-19, 25-15 defeat ended the War Hawks' season at the Mayborn Campus Center on the campus of UMHB.
Hanna Rubis powered the McMurry offense with a match-high 15 kills, plus seven digs and an ace.
Kenzie Jackson followed with eight kills and
Madi Polasek chipped in five.
Grace Fortune directed the attack, securing a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs. Defensively,
Lexi Nichols anchored the back row with a match-leading 17 digs, while
Layleah Williams-Gibson paced the team at the net with two blocks and three kills.
The match started tough with Schreiner scoring the first seven points. McMurry fell behind 16-4 before finding rhythm. Rubis sparked the War Hawks late with five kills in the opening frame, but the Mountaineers closed out the set.
McMurry bounced back in a tightly contested second set with six tie scores and five lead changes. Williams-Gibson opened scoring with a kill, and a 4-0 War Hawk run, highlighted by three kills from Jackson and one from Polasek, gave them a 7-5 lead. The War Hawks pushed their advantage to 13-9 after a Rubis kill and a combined block by Williams-Gibson and Rubis. Leading 16-13, McMurry saw Schreiner respond with a 4-0 burst. A Mountaineer attack error briefly gave McMurry an 18-17 edge, but Schreiner finished the set on an 8-1 run, interrupted only by a Polasek kill, to take a 2-0 match lead.
Schreiner opened the final set on a 4-0 run before Jackson got the War Hawks on the board. Down 7-2, McMurry fought back to cut the deficit to two at 8-6, highlighted by a solo block and a kill from Williams-Gibson and a Polasek kill. McMurry stayed close, pulling within one at 11-10 on a Rubis kill. Trailing 16-11 midway through the frame, the War Hawks pushed to close within 17-14 behind two kills and an ace from Rubis. However, the Mountaineers scored eight of the final nine points to claim the set and the match.
The War Hawks finish their season with a 7-18 overall record and 2-8 in the ASC.
