On 9-27, the Cowgirls were thwarted by cross-state Eastern New Mexico University in four sets (26-24,18-25, 25-17, 25-20) at the John A. Wilson Complex.
Freshman Libero
Sheila Olaechea had a stellar night with 25 digs, four aces and one assist. But, her defense could not stop the well spread offense of Eastern who notched 55 kills and had three players with double-digit kills.
"Tonight we definitely did not live up to our potential on the court," said Head Coach
Jim Deisler. "We made way too many unforced errors and we didn't have enough players stepping up and counteracting the mistakes."
The Zias surged in the first set but Highlands answered right back. At the 19-20 point in the set, Highlands pulled ahead by a kill from Senior Middle Blocker
Dominique Benton who started a 4-2 rally making the set 24-22. Eastern called a swift timeout and capitalized on the fresh start as Middle Blocker Jessica King buried a ball and created a 4-0 point swing. Eastern closed the first set 24-26 by a
Kelsey Groff hitting error.
Set two started a lot stronger for the home team as they started slow but picked up momentum on a kill from Sophomore Outside Hitter
Darian Mullen. The teams traded points until 9-10, when Groff put a ball down the line to start the Highlands momentum. Eastern answered back until 18-18 when the Cowgirls played like they know how - with authority and force. The Cowgirls took set two 25-18.
Going into set three, Eastern dominated the court, spreading their offense to the antennae and working their middle hitters efficiently. Highlands fought hard, but the visitors took advantage of easy opportunities and forcefully set the tone for the rest of the night.
The fourth set was a nearly identical start to the second, but it was a kill at 8-8 by Evelyn Escobar who started a 4-1 run for the Zias. Trailing part way through the set, Highlands' bad habits were shown as they were worked frivolously to gain their momentum. At 15-12, Eastern earned their points with runs of points to close out the match 25-10.
Highlands drops to 7-7 and Eastern improves to 4-12.
"Tomorrow we get back in the gym and will fix things that went wrong and improve upon what we did well," Deisler said.
The Cowgirls host Colorado Mesa University on 9-30 at 5:00 p.m.
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