Saturday, September 04, 2010
Zias Rise Over Mountaineers for First Win of Season
CANYON, TEXAS — With the fifth set knotted at eight-all, the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team (1-3) took the lead for good on a service error, followed by a pair of Amber Durand (So., OH, Onalaska, Wash./Onalaska HS/Columbia Basin) service aces on the way to a 3-2 (25-21, 26-24, 25-27, 21-25, 15-13) win over Western State College (2-1), Saturday morning at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic, hosted by West Texas A&M.
The win was the 393rd for head coach Mike Maguire at Eastern (408th overall) and his first since picking up a home win, 3-2, over Angelo State, on September 30, 2006. The victory also marked the first time the Zias had won a match that had gone five sets since defeating Fort Hays State last September 12th.
The squads traded points early on in the fifth set, with Western State taking a 6-4 lead on a kill from Lindsay Huson. After a Mountaineer service error, Grace Brandt (Sr., S, Dumas, Texas/Dumas HS) connected on two service aces to give Eastern a 7-6 lead. After the set was tied on a service error, the Zias went on a 5-1 run, capped by a Stacey Main (Jr., MB/OH, Alturas, Calif./Moaoc HS/Feather River) kill, to take a commanding 12-8 lead on the way to a 15-13 win.
Western State took their only lead of the first set, 18-17, on a Kallee Cool kill, but Kristen Beck (Jr., MB, Odessa, Texas/Odessa HS/Midland) followed with a kill to spark a 6-1 ENMU run, allowing the Zias to pull away for a 25-21 win.
The Mountaineers looked to tie the match, holding game point, 24-23, in the second set, when Jessica King's (Jr., MB, Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate HS) kill tied the set. Eastern won the set, 26-24, after a pair of WSC attack errors.
With the third set knotted at 25-all, the Mountaineers picked up the win, by scoring on a Courtnee Pedone kill followed by a Jamie Hamsa service ace. Western State charged to a 13-4 lead in the fourth set and held on for a 25-21 win
Eastern finished with a season-high 60 kills, 11 service aces and 80 digs. Senior setter Veronica Valdez-Kent (Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) dished out a career-best 51 assists and finished with 11 digs. Durand had 13 kills and 20 digs, while King posted a career-high 18 kills along with 13 digs, also a career high. Brandt had a career-best four aces. Huson topped the Mountaineers with 20 kills.
The Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team will return to action on Tuesday evening, when they travel to Goodwell, Okla., to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State. Match time is set for 6 p.m. MST.