By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
CANYON (September 23, 2016) — Tarleton State looked as if it may blow West Texas A&M right out of The Box Friday evening.
But the Lady Buffs came back and ver nearly upended Tarleton after the TexAnns jumped out to a commanding two-set lead.
It took 31 kills from Hailey Roberts, 58 assists by Jordyn Keamo and 30 digs by Adrianna Knutson for Tarleton to hold on, 25-12, 25-19, 24-26, 23-25, 15-12, in a Lone Star Conference match.
Tarleton visits Texas-Permian Basin at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The outlook appeared especially bleak when WTAMU sprung out to a 5-1 lead in the short fifth set, but the Lady Buffs committed consecutive errors before back-to-back kills by Roberts tied it up. It was tied twice more before Tarleton broke it open by scoring five of six for a 12-8 lead. Three kills from sophomore middle blocker Hannah McManus and a service ace by Michaela Rodriguez fueled the decisive run.
McManus finished with 12 kills and five blocks and Autumn Taylor added 10 kills. Rodriguez had 17 digs and Roberts tallied 14 for another double-double.
Tarleton used runs of 8-0 and 5-0 to take charge of each of the first two sets. Rebecca Schlorff had two of her four aces back-to-back to ignite the first-set run, while Roberts killed five straight balls to comprise the second-set surge.
WTAMU overcame deficits of 5-1 and 15-11 to avoid being swept in the third. The Lady Buffs built a 24-20 lead and held off a Tarleton charge in the fourth to force the short game.
Tarleton served eight aces and WTAMU had none. The TexAnns had 68 total kills and the Lady Buffs just 42. The TexAnns hit just .140 and committed 41 errors, while WTAMU hit just .086 with 28 errors.
WTAMU hosts Angelo State at noon on Saturday.
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Photos courtesy RYAN COX/Tarleton Athletic Communications
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