Courtesy: Stephanie Stewart, The Chase Valdez-Kent and King closed out the match at UTPB for the Zias
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Zias rally in third set
ODESSA, TEXAS— University of Texas of the Permian Basin (5-10) extended the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team to set point four times in the third set of Tuesday night’s match at the Falcon Dome, but the Zias (4-9) used kills from Jessica King (So., MB, Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate HS) and Veronica Valdez-Kent (Jr., OH, Canyon, Texas/Canyon HS) to close out the 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 32-30) sweep. ENMU posted a season-high .236 attack percentage and fell just one kill shy of their season-high in that category.
The teams exchanged points throughout the opening set, before Eastern erased a 15-14 deficit with a 7-1 surge, fueled by a pair of King kills, taking a 21-16 lead. The Falcons managed to pull to tie the set at 23-all, but the Zias closed the match out after a pair of UTPB attack errors.
The teams traded momentum early on in the second set, but a 5-0 run gave the Falcons a 10-9 lead, forcing Eastern to use a timeout. Following the timeout, the Zias used a kill from Megan Carpenter (Fr., RS, Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) to tie the set and took the lead for good on an attack error, on the way to a 25-19 win.
UTPB came out of the intermission and took control of the third set, leading by as many as seven points, before a Megan Longoria (Fr., MB, Del Valle, Texas/Del Valle High School) kill ignited a 9-3 Zia run, capped by a Madison Rhodes (Fr., OH, Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho HS) kill, pulling Eastern to within a point, 21-20. The teams traded points, until a kill from Heather Sanchez gave Permian Basin a 25-24 lead. At that point, the Falcons held set point three more times, the final coming at 30-29, before King tied the set with a kill and Eastern took the lead for good on an attack error. Valdez-Kent closed out the match with one more kill.
Valdez-Kent paced Eastern with 14 kills, while King matcher her three-set high with 13 kills along with eight blocks, also a career high. Carpenter hit for a career-best .529 attack percentage with 10 kills. Caitlin Murphy (Sr., L, Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa HS) recorded 27 digs, a three-set career high and had two service aces. Karen McIntyre (Jr., S, Houston, Texas/J. Frank Dobie HS) had 42 assists, five digs and three blocks.
The Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team will return to Greyhound Arena on Thursday night to open Lone Star Conference play against Angelo State. The first serve is set for 7 p.m. MST.
Courtesy: Stephanie Stewart, The Chase
