The Griffon volleyball squad opened up the 2011 season going 1-1 on the opening day of the Lady Buff Classic hosted by West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas. Western won their opening match 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18) over Eastern New Mexico and fell in the night cap 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-21) against Angelo State. Senior middle hitter Alex Behnke led the way 24 total kills on the day which included tying her career high with 14 in the opening match.
Eastern New Mexico Match
The first three matches were tightly contested battles as the Griffons were able to take two out of the first three. Western led set one 15-11 but a 14-8 run by Eastern New Mexico gave the Zias the 1-0 lead in the match. In set two the two teams went back and forth once again but a 4-1 run by Western to close out the set tied the match up one. Western hit .182 in the set with 15 kills.
Western jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in set three, but the Zias would come back cutting the Griffon lead to 14-12. Western regrouped as a redshirt freshman Meredith McCormick kill and a Zias attack error gave the Griffons the 25-22 win and 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, a pair of McCormick kills snapped a 13-all tie and allowed Western to build a 20-15 lead. Western won five of the next eight points earning the 25-18 victory to end the match.
Western hit .155 as a team as McCormick and Behnke hit .450 and .237 respectively. McCormick and senior Tahler Johnston chipped in 11 kills apiece. Sophomore setter Stephanie Hattey had 40 set assists and eight kills. Freshman Sarah Faubel had a nice opening match tallying 26 digs while Johnston chipped in 16.
Eastern New Mexico was led by Amber Durand with 21 kills and 16 digs while Tarrah Sweet had 44 set assists. The Zias fall to 0-1 on the season.
Angelo State Match
Western struggled in the second match of the day falling in three straight sets to Angelo State. Western hit just .095 with 33 kills in the match. Behnke led the charge once again with 10 kills while hitting .348.
The Rambelles dominated hitting .352 with 46 kills in the match. Kaelen Valdez led the charge with 11 kills while Alex Woolsey had 39 set assists. Angelo State hit .545 in set one with 14 kills while tallying 19 kills in the third and final set. Angelo State improves to 2-0 on the season.
Faubel led the Griffons defensively with 15 digs while Hattey had 33 set assists.
Western returns to action tomorrow with matches against Texas Permian Basin and host school West Texas A&M. Match times are scheduled for 9:00 am and 2:00 pm respectively.
— MWSU Sports Information —