| Zia Volleyball Wins at Highlands for First Time since 2003 Season | |||||||
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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Murphy has six of team’s season-high nine service aces
LAS VEGAS, N.M.— A kill from freshman Megan Carpenter (RS, Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) allowed the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team (6-22) to seal a 26-24 win in the third set of Tuesday’s match against New Mexico Highlands, snapping a 1-1 tie on the way to taking a 3-1 victory over the Cowgirls at the Wilson Complex. The win marked the Zias first win over NMHU in Las Vegas since capturing a five-set decision on September 11, 2003, as the Cowgirls had been on a four-match home-win streak against Eastern. With the match tied at one set apiece and the score knotted at 24-all, an attack error by Highlands allowed the Zias to close the match when Carpenter notched her fourth kill of the set after taking a set from Veronica Valdez-Kent (Jr., OH, Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS). The fourth set featured back-and-forth action between the teams, with the Zias tying the score at 15-all on a Jessica King (So., MB, Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate HS) kill and taking the lead for good on a bad set. The two points ignited an 11-3 run, capped by a Caitlin Murphy (Jr., L, Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa HS) service splitter to close out the match with a 25-18 win. New Mexico Highlands started the match strong, surging to a 11-2 lead in the opening set, but a King service ace sparked a 16-7 Zia run that allowed ENMU to tie the match at 18-all. Eastern scored 23 of the matches final 34 points on the way to the 25-22 victory. The Zias out hit NMHU during the set by a .200-.128 margin, with Megan Longoria (Fr., MB, Del Valle, Texas/Del Valle High School) registering a blistering .800 attack percentage. Highlands snapped an 11-all tie in the second set, taking the lead for good on an attack error on the way to a 25-16 win. Eastern’s nine service aces tied a season-high, set almost a month ago at Oklahoma Panhandle. Murphy registered a career-high six service aces along with 18 digs, while Madison Rhoades (Fr., OH, Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho HS) had two aces and eight digs. King had a team-high 10 kills, four blocks and a service ace, while Carpenter added seven kills and four blocks. Grace Brandt (Jr., S, Dumas, Texas/Dumas HS) had 23 assists and 10 digs. Doreen Zamora and Dominique Benton combined for 26 kills and eight blocks for Highlands. The Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team will close their season on Thursday at fifth-ranked West Texas A&M, in Canyon, Texas. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST. |
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Courtesy: Eastern New Mexico University
