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SEGUIN, Texas – Concordia University Texas won a pair of matches to open the 2013 season on Friday at the Bulldog Classic.
The Tornados (2-0) swept St. Joseph's-Long Island (0-1) in the opener and rallied for a four-set win over Texas Lutheran (0-1) in the nightcap.
The second victory of the day ended a 45-match losing streak to the Lady Bulldogs and was Concordia Texas' first win in the series against their former American Southwest Conference foe since Sept. 11, 1992.
"I'm very proud of the way our team performed today," first-year head coach Christy Clawson-Diver said. "Even though we lost the first set to Texas Lutheran, we battled back. It's important to have matches like this where you have to fight to win. We made some adjustments on the fly and that gave us confidence throughout the rest of the match."
Katie Baker and Alissa Johnson paced the Tornados in the first two matches. Both players amassed 18 kills and 17 digs against Concordia's two opponents.
The Tornados will conclude tournament play on Saturday with a pair of contests. Concordia will start the day with a 9 a.m. exhibition match against Houston Community College before playing a non-conference tilt with Texas-Tyler at 3 p.m.
MATCH ONE
Concordia Texas used a balanced attack to sweep St. Joseph's-Long Island by scores of 25-15, 25-8, 25-16 in the season-opening match at the Bulldog Classic on Friday.
The Tornados (1-0) hit .432 in the three-set contest, while limiting the Lady Eagles to a -.024 clip.
Emma Clifford paced Concordia Texas with eight kills, three total blocks, two digs and a service ace, while Sam Ladewig handed out 16 assists. Alissa Johnson chipped in with five winners and Cassie Dominguez collected a team-best six digs.
St. Joseph's-Long Island had a pair of match highs, as Julianne Tierney racked up 17 assists and Taylor Ahmed collected 11 digs.
The Tornados registered a .536 hitting percentage in the opening frame to set the tone for the contest.
Concordia held a 9-7 lead early before using a 6-0 run to take control of the panel. The Lady Eagles pulled within four (17-13), but the Tornados reeled off eight of the final 10 points to claim the advantage.
In the second set, Concordia opened a 5-1 lead, thanks to a trio of St. Joseph's-Long Island attack errors. The Lady Eagles remained within striking distance after a winner by Tiffany Willms cut the Tornados' advantage to 13-8. However, Concordia rallied and won 12 consecutive points behind the serving efforts of Stacy Manship to take a 2-0 lead.
The Tornados again relied upon a quick start in the final panel after posting a 9-3 advantage. St. Joseph's-Long Island was able to pull within four (15-11), but another late surge allowed Concordia to post a 10-5 run to close out the contest.
The Tornados will continue tournament play against former American Southwest Conference foe Texas Lutheran (0-0) at 3 p.m.
MATCH TWO
In the nightcap, Concordia dropped the opening set to Texas Lutheran, but rallied to win the final three and knock off the Lady Bulldogs by scores of 14-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-24.
The win, which was the Tornados' first over Texas Lutheran in nearly 21 years, was fueled by four double-doubles.
Baker posted a match-high 15 kills to go along with her 14 digs, while Johnson racked up 13 winners and a team-best 15 digs. Sam Ladewig handed out a match-high 21 assists and collected 11 digs, while Zoë Allen produced 15 helpers and 12 stops for her first career double-double.
The Lady Bulldogs received a double-double from Manda Martin, who dished out 18 assists and recorded 13 digs.
After Concordia lost the opening frame, the Tornados raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the second panel. Texas Lutheran rallied late to tie the set at 23-all, and took the lead on a error by Concordia. However, the Tornados recovered to pull even on Johnson's winner. After a kill by Baker, CTX evened up the contest on a Lady Bulldog attack error.
In the third set, the Tornados trailed 22-19 before using a 4-0 run, which was capped off by Emily Powers' service ace, to take a one-point lead. Texas Lutheran pulled even on a CTX attack error, but gave the lead back on an attack error of its own. Brooke Stitt finished off the set for the Tornados with a kill off a set from Ladewig.
Concordia needed another comeback in the final panel to clinch the contest.
The Lady Bulldogs held a 23-21 advantage before back-to-back winners from Baker evened the set. The two teams traded the next two points and Baker lifted the Tornados to victory with back-to-back kills on assists from Ladewig.
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