Saints Volleyball Splits Series with Texarkana

SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 29-30, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) volleyball team and Texas A&M University – Texarkana (TAMUT) went into this weekend's series undefeated with 6-0 records in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). On Friday, the Saints came out ahead to win 3-2, but TAMUT won the battle on Saturday and now both teams are 7-1 in the RRAC. OLLU is 10-8 overall, while the Eagles are 15-6.

History

The Saints began their history last season, when TAMUT started a volleyball program and entered the RRAC. The Saints won both contest last year 3-1, and they are now 4-2 against the Eagles.

Friday

Basics

The Saints dominated the first set by allowing the Eagles to a -.065 hitting percentage and logging a .107 for themselves. The teams kept the score close at the beginning with two ties before the Saints took the lead for good at 7-6. The Saints powered through the 25-16 win.

In the second set, the Eagles jumped ahead to a 5-1 lead, but a kill from Mia Dorsey switched the momentum to Saints. Tory Rodriguez served to three points to tie the score at 5-5. The Eagles were able to pull back ahead at 9-8 and kept the lead through 23-16. The Saints staged a comeback and got to within four at 24-20, but a Mia Mata kill sealed the win for TAMUT 25-20.

The third set started with the Saints taking a 6-1 lead and kept it through the end to give the Saints the 25-21 win and two-sets to one over TAMUT.

The fourth set became a battle as both teams took turns taking the lead. With a serious threat toward the end with the Saints just one point away from set and match point at 24-16, the Eagles fought through to with 29-27.

In the final tiebreaker set, the Saints took the 6-2 lead, and the Eagles could not erase the difference. The Saints prevailed to win the set 15-1 and the match 3-2.

Scoring overview

Set One – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 16

Set Two – TAMUT 25 - OLLU 20

Set Three – OLLU 25-TAMUT 22

Set Four – TAMUT 29-OLLU 27

Set Five – OLLU 15-TAMUT 11

Set review

In the first set, OLLU recorded 10 kills and seven errors on 28 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .107.

The Saints had 10 kills in the second set and eight errors on 40 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .050.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 15 kills and six errors on 43 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .209.

The Saints had 11 kills in the fourth set and eight errors on 32 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .094.

In the final set, the Saints had nine kills and two errors on 26 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .269.

On the offense

Overall, the Saints had 55 kills for a hitting percentage of .142. TAMUT totaled 53 kills for a hitting percentage of .148.

Camila Ramirez led the Saints with 17 kills. Lauren Reynard assisted on 42 plays for OLLU.

Defensive standouts

OLLU had a total of 67 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 18. Madalyn Gonzalez had three total blocks.

Serving it up

Julissa Casas led the Saints with four service aces.

Saturday

Basics

The Saints finished the series against TAMUT with their first defeat in conference. OLLU hit .300 in the first set, .188 in the second, -0.024 in the third, -.030 in the fourth and .097 in the fifth. The Eagles recorded -.103 in the first, .037 in the second, -.027 in the third, .257 in the fourth and .200 in the fifth.

Scoring overview

Set One – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 12

Set Two – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 18

Set Three – TAMUT 25-OLLU 23

Set Four – TAMUT 25-OLLU 14

Set Five – TAMUT 15-OLLU 14

Set review

In the first set, OLLU recorded 14 kills and five errors on 30 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .300.

The Saints had 10 kills in the second set and four errors on 32 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .188.

In the third set, OLLU recorded nine kills and 10 errors on 42 total attacks for a hitting percentage of -.024.

For the fourth set, the Saints had eight kills and five errors on 31 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .030.

The final set had the Saints with eight kills and five errors on 31 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .097.

On the offense

Overall, the Saints had 50 kills for a hitting percentage of .130. TAMUT totaled 45 kills for a hitting percentage of .072.

Mia Dorsey and Camila Ramirez led the Saints with 15 kills each. Lauren Reynard assisted on 45 plays for OLLU.

Defensive standouts

OLLU had a total of 65 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 15. Allison Mata assisted on five blocks.

Serving it up

Julissa Casas led the Saints with two service aces.

Hear from Head Coach Scott Mattera and watch highlights

Up next

The Saints will host the University of the Southwest on Oct. 6-7.