Zias Volleyball Fall to TexAnns in four

Stephenville, Texas- The Eastern New Mexico University (12-14; LSC 4-8) volleyball team traveled to Tarleton University (21-8; LSC 7-5) for a Lone Star Conference match up, Saturday afternoon at Wisdom Upper Gym. The Zias came out hungry in the first game. Eastern out-hit the TexAnns in kills and overall hitting percentage. The Zias took the first game 25-19 before dropping the next three: 22-25, 19-25, 23-25.

Portales native, Dallas Russell (So., DS, Portales, N.M. / Portales High School) had another day of double-digit digs. Leading the match with 17 digs, Russell pushed Eastern in their defensive effort which propelled them to a 25-19 victory in game one.

Kristen Beck (Jr., OH, Odessa, Texas/ Odessa High School/ Midland College) led the offensive attack, compiling 16 kills in the match, but it wasn’t enough to finish off the TexAnns. Game two went back and forth with nine tie scores, and four lead changes. It wasn’t until the 22nd point that Tarleton took the final lead to finish the game, 25-22.

Despite leading set three in kills, the Zias could not overcome ten hitting errors. Tarleton took advantage of the errors and tied the game at 16-16 before taking a commanding lead. The TexAnns when on a seven point run and used their momentum to take game three 25-19.

The Zias would not go down without a fight in the final game; Jessica King (Jr., MB, Las Cruces, N.M. / Onate HS) and Kristen Beck both accumulated three kills to keep the Zias within striking range. Just like game two, both teams battled for the lead. Eastern fell behind early on but when on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 8. After that no team lead by more than three points at one time. With the game at 23 a piece, Tarleton took advantage of an Eastern error and Tarleton’s match kill leader, Irelis Llarraza, put away two points to secure the 25-23 win.

Eastern New Mexico’s volleyball team will return home to play New Mexico Highlands on November 2nd. The game begins at 7pm MST.