Jacksonville, Fla. – Resiliency is the name of the game.
After dropping two matches Friday, Tarleton (8-3) came out on Saturday morning and responded, sweeping Idaho (0-9), to escape the Dolphin Classic with a win in tow.
The Texans were led offensively by Megan Haynes’ 12 kills which was good for a career high, and Megan Hodges’ 20 assists. Emma Burke totaled five blocks, also a career high. Ana Costas had 13 digs.
Tarleton got out to a 9-3 lead in set one thanks to kills from Haynes, Breanna McDonough, Ailie Hair and Grayson Schirpik. Matti Theurer also added a service ace. They maintained the lead throughout the set, never allowing the Vandals to get closer than two points. With the Texans leading 20-18, they scored five of the next eight points to close the set out, with Burke landing a kill for the final point.
The impressive defensive play from Tarleton showed up the most in set two when they held the Vandals to just a .033 hitting percentage. The set was tightly contested early as Idaho reeled off three straight points to make it a 12-11 Tarleton lead. The Texans went on a 9-1 run in the next 10 points to take a commanding lead and did not look back, eventually winning the set 25-17.
Set three came down to the wire, as the teams were knotted up at 23 late in the set. Haynes proceeded to land two straight kills to give Tarleton the three-set sweep.
The Texans play again on Thursday in Greeley, Colorado, in the Northern Colorado Classic. They take on the host Bears on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+. Friday sees a matchup with Santa Clara at 4 p.m. CT before the last match on Saturday vs. Cal Poly at 1 p.m. CT. It will be the last regular season tournament of the season for Tarleton.
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