PORTALES, N.M.— Madison Rhoades (Fr., OH, Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho HS) and Jessica King (So., MB, Las Cruces, N.M./Oñate HS) combined for 15 of the Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team’s (5-16; LSC 0-6) 31 kills, but the Zias dropped Saturday afternoon’s Lone Star Conference match, 3-0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-17) to visiting Southwestern Oklahoma State (5-22; LSC 2-4) at Greyhound Arena.
The Bulldogs grabbed the momentum early on in the opening set, but the Zias charged back, taking their first lead, 16-15, on a King service ace and the teams traded points until SWOSU took the lead for good, 20-19 on a service error. The Bulldogs pulled away at that point for the 25-21 win.
The second game saw Southwestern Oklahoma charge to a 7-1 lead, but Eastern stormed back again, knotting the score at 15-all on an attack error and taking their first lead one point later on another attack error, forcing the Bulldogs to call for time out. Neither team could sustain momentum at that point, but SWOSU managed to take a 24-23 lead, before the Zias scored on a Rhoades kill followed by a Karen McIntyre (Jr., S, Houston, Texas/J. Frank Dobie HS) kill to force set point at 25-24. the Bulldogs tied the set on a Jenny Naramore kill and held off Eastern for a 28-26 win. Southwestern jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the final set and never trailed on the way to a 25-17 win.
Rhoades paced Eastern with eight kills and seven digs, while King had seven kills and two blocks. Caitlin Murphy (Jr., L, Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa HS) finished with 15 digs, while McIntyre had 18 assists. Emily Walter had 11 kills for SWOSU.
The Eastern New Mexico University volleyball team will resume play on Thursday, October 29, when they visit Texas A&M-Kingsville for another Lone Star Conference match. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. MST.
Courtesy: Stephanie Stewart, The Chase
