ABILENE, Texas - In day one of the SCAC Crossover, the Concordia Texas volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday. The Tornados were bested in a five-set marathon with McMurry & were victorious in four sets against the University of Dallas inside Kimbrell Arena.
vs. McMurry, L 3-2
The Tornados used an early 8-1 run to lead 10-4 in game one. Later in the set with CTX up 17-15, a kill by Camryn Parker sparked a 5-0 burst to help CTX to a 25-17 win.Â
With games two and three going down to the wire, McMurry was able to collect a pair of 25-21 wins to go up 2-1 in the series. Looking to stay alive in the match, Concordia led by as much as nine points in the fourth at 20-11. The Warhawks made a late push, but a kill by Haylee Diebel would force game five.
Trading runs in the final set, both teams were tied at 15-all. McMurry would ultimately tally the next two points to earn the victory.Â
Malarie Mican 35 Digs (Career-High), 15 Kills, 4 Aces
Brooklynne Fitzgerald 16 Kills, 14 Ast
Isabella Martinez 29 Digs, 5 Ast, 3 Aces
vs. Dallas, W 3-1
Concordia came out on fire in set one as they sprinted to a 13-3 lead. The Crusaders would come within five points in the set, but a kill by Kinlea Reeder would cap off a 25-16 win.Â
The second frame would be much closer as the score was tied at 23-23 towards the end. Kaitlyn Ruiz would then set up Reeder for another kill to give CTX the set point, but Dallas would even the match at 1-1 as they scored the final three points.Â
A slew of big runs by both teams in the third set would see Dallas leading 22-21. Clean play by Concordia would help them finish the set in a 4-1 run to give them a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Crusaders once again led late in the fourth set at 18-17, but a furious finish by CTX produced an 8-1 run for the Tornados to close out the match with a 25-19 victory.
Brooklynne Fitzgerald 13 Digs, 12 Kills
Malarie Mican 15 Digs, 6 Aces (Career-High)
Selena Cooper 21 Ast, 6 Digs
Concordia Texas will look to end the SCAC Crossover on a positive note tomorrow morning where they will face off against Centenary at 10am.