Box Score ADA, Okla. – The Cowgirls outlasted the Tigers in the first two sets before dominating the third as New Mexico Highlands (3-2) swept East Central (0-6) 25-20, 29-27, 25-18 Thursday night (Sept. 11) in the first match of the 2015 South Central Tournament in Oklahoma.
East Central rushed out to an 11-6 lead in the first frame before Highlands flipped the script with a 13-3 run. Freshman
Talise Babbitt got the Cowgirls rolling with a kill to put her herself on serve. After a pair of errors, a Babbit ace and a freshman
Shayli Schulz kill tied up the set. Splitting the next four points, sophomore
Andrea Nunez – who tallied the Cowgirls second double-double of the season – put Highlands in the lead for good in the set. Four points off of senior
Alicia Moreno's serve put the visitors up 19-14.
The Tigers pulled back with one at 20-19, but the Cowgirls recorded five of the last six points to close out the frame.
The Cowgirls were actually outhit in the frame, .156-.139, but Highlands had a trio of aces compared to the Tigers' 0.
Set two actually saw two East Central set points at 25-14 and 26-25, but a kill by Moreno and an assisted block by Moreno and classmate
Elizabeth Gomez kept the set alive. Nunez recorded a pair of kills around a Highlands error before a Tigers error put the Cowgirls up 2-0 after a 29-27 set win.
Moreno recorded a match-best 15 kills.
Set three saw the Cowgirls hit nearly .400 to close out the match for Highlands' first sweep of the season.
Volleyball returns to action tomorrow with a pair of matches. The Cowgirls begin the day with an 11 a.m. match against Missouri Southern before finishing the day with a tile against Texas A&M International at 4 p.m.
