TexAnns slam ENMU in straight sets

Special to The Flash
TarletonSports.com

STEPHENVILLE (October 14, 2016) – Just three games after setting a league-high hitting percentage against Cameron last week, Tarleton kept the good time rolling by setting a new season high Friday night in a sweep of Eastern New Mexico.

Tarleton blasted the Greyhounds to the tune of a .444 hitting percentage, including a .524 effort with no errors in the opening set and a .519 performance in the match-clinching third set. It marks the highest hitting percentage by a Lone Star Conference team this season, topping the TexAnns’ previous high mark of .427 from last Friday night against Cameron. It is also the fifth-highest scoring performance in school history.

Leading the charge was Tarleton’s Hailey Roberts with 14 kills on 21 swings with a .524 hitting clip while Autumn Taylor came off the bench to land 10 kills. From the middle spot, Rebecca Dauenhauer(7-1-12) and Hannah McManus (6-0-10) combined for 13 kills while McManus led the team with a .600 hitting performance.

Jordyn Keamo was the maestro of the night, leading the TexAnns from the setter position with 33 of the team’s 37 assists on the night.

The teams stayed relatively tight over the first 16 points as Tarleton maintained a modest 10-6 advantage, but a Greyhound error and a Taylor kill shot put Tarleton up 12-6 to force a Greyhound timeout and kick start a TexAnn rally. Tarleton finished the set by scoring 13 of the final 17 points following the timeout to claim the opening set 25-10.

The second set saw the tightest contest of the night as Eastern New Mexico stayed within two points at 17-15. A kill shot from Chandler Gow was the start of an 8-6 run down the stretch – capped off by a set-ending kill shot from Hannah McManus – to deliver a 25-21 set victory to Tarleton.

Tarleton opened up the third set by taking 12 of the first 20 points to build a 12-8 lead and force the Greyhounds into a timeout.

Out of the break, however, the TexAnns were dominant.

The TexAnns scored 12 of the next 15 points, including six straight served up by Roberts, to set up match point at 24-11. Eastern New Mexico delayed the inevitable with three straight points before Dauenhauer landed the final kill of the match to cap off the sweep – Tarleton’s fourth consecutive 3-0 win and seventh straight overall.

Roberts added a team-high 11 digs for a double-double in the match while Michaela Rodriguez (8) and Adrianna Knutson (7) combined for 15 digs. Tarleton’s defense held the Greyhounds to a .154 hitting clip for the match, including a .000 percentage in the first set.

Tarleton will get back to action tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. with the annual ‘Dig Pink’ game to raise awareness for breast cancer. The TexAnns will host Western New Mexico for the pink game.