DENVER, Colo. – Tarleton Volleyball’s season came to an end in the opening round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament as the No. 7 seed Texans were swept by No. 2 seed Colorado School of Mines at the Regis Fieldhouse.
The Texans finish the 2019 campaign with a 22-12 record – their sixth straight 20-win season and sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is the longest stretches in program history.
Colorado Mines (24-6) is coming off the RMAC Tournament Championship and are now winners of nine straight matches. The Orediggers took the three sets 25-22, 26-24, 25-15.
Tarleton hit .178 in the match and was led by Tatyana Tuialii-Umi’s match-high 15 kills on a .333 hitting percentage and also added a team-leading 10 digs for the double-double. Colorado Mines hit .358 for the match and had three players record double-digit kills.
The first two sets were back and forth for the two regional rivals that have now met in back-to-back regional tournaments. There were seven ties and two lead changes in the set. Mines’ biggest lead came at 18-14 after the two teams were tied at 14-all. Kills from Tuialii-Umi and Lauren Kersey brought the set back to 20-18 and later 23-21, but Orediggers never let the Texans closer than two points down the stretch.
The second set featured 20 ties and six lead changes. From the early stages on, it was within one for the majority of the set as the teams exchanged point for point until it was 19-19. The Texans reeled off three straight on a pair of kills from Kersey and Amber Strange for its largest lead of the set at 21-19. The Texans led 24-23 after a Mines error, but the Orediggers took the next three points to win the set and go up 2-0 in the match.
Mines opened the third set on a 7-2 run and never let up. A kill from Tuialii-Umi and an ace from Michaela Rodriguez brought the set to within three at 11-8 but the Orediggers responded with a 3-0 run to go back up 14-8 en route to the match win.
Lauren Kersey posted seven kills while Amber Strange added five and Camren Kinsey tallied four kills. Kayla Brannon paced the offense with 26 assists to lead the team. Defensively, Adrianna Darthuy had nine digs and Michaela Rodriguez totaled seven digs.
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