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Life > Athletics > Volleyball > 09/21/06
VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS TAMU-COMMERCE WITH THRILLING THIRD GAME
DENTON, Texas (Sept. 21) – Going for the sweep against Lone Star Conference North Division rival Texas A&M-Commerce, the Texas Woman’s University volleyball team found itself in an uphill battle in game three. Down by as much as nine points three different times, TWU clawed its way back and denied TAMU-C on five game-point opportunities. In the end, the line score read 30-25, 30-20, 31-29.
The Pioneers won their first conference match of the season and kept intact their undefeated home record at 5-0. They haven’t lost a game on their home court either.
“We played a good match,” Head coach Shelly Barberee said. “I saw a fire in the last bit of that (third) game that I haven’t seen all season and I’m really happy to see that. I think the last ten points we hit better than we did the entire match.”
The score in game one was tied at seven before the Pioneers (13-5, 1-2 LSC North) took the lead on a kill from Jessica Crow. They stayed ahead until the Lions strung together three straight points and knotted the game at 24 on a kill from Jane Latu. After being tied at 25, TWU ran off five consecutive points and won on a block from the sister duo of Krystle and Nicole Everett.
“We started off strong in game one,” Barberee added. “That’s something we always like to do at home. We come out in front of our home crowd ready to play. The first game was kind of back and forth. But in the second game, we played really nice. We made them make some errors in the second game. We played more offense as opposed to playing more defense in game one.”
In the second frame, the Pioneers hit their best of the night at .250. The Lions earned the first point, but it was all TWU after that as they expanded their lead to as much as 11 at 29-18 before winning 30-20.
The third game really got the crowd going in this important conference contest. TAMU-C led from the start and had game point five times but was held off by kills from Krystle Everett, Robin Hawkins and Nicole Everett as well as two errors. Tied at 29, Krystle Everett served an ace and Kitty Magee Arena exploded as TWU took the lead for the first time with match point. Nicole Everett and Madlyn Craven teamed up for the block and the victory, 31-29.
“After intermission, we came out flat in the third game,” Barberee said. “My team knew we needed this match. I called a timeout when we down 10-19 and told them we really needed this match and we needed it in three. Then when they called the timeout at 20-26, I told my team that Commerce was thinking they only needed four points to win and we needed six. But we could get those six and stay in this. And we did.”
Leading the TWU attack was Kandis Schroeder who had a season-high 16 kills and a .433 hitting percentage. Also hitting in double digits was Krystle Everett with 13. Crow added 45 assists and Heather Marcus had 13 digs. TWU recorded 12 block assists.
“Kandis hit great. She just has a drive in her and a fire in her,” Barberee said. “She’s the type of player that you know when the game is on the line, she’ll be there for you. She plays every point very hard.”
TWU wraps up a three-match homestand Saturday with a 7 p.m. start against LSC opponent Southeastern Oklahoma State.
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