TWU SWEEPS TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1997

DENTON, TX—Texas Woman’s University (13-15, 7-0 LSC) had four players in double figures in kills while Texas A&M University-Commerce (14-13, 2-5 conf.) committed 28 hitting and 14 service errors en route to a 3-1 (30-26, 28-30, 30-19, 30-25) loss to the Pioneers. With the victory, TWU ties the 1996 squad with 11 wins in a row and sweeps the Lady Lions for the first time since 1997. Melanie Pabalate (Fort Worth, TX/Navarro College) had a good match as she recorded season-highs of 11 kills and 13 digs.

"Everybody stepped up and played very well today. Our defense did a great job of limiting their hitters with some good blocking. We had four players in double digits in kills, which is always good," head coach Shelly Barberee said. "Meredith Fry came in and did a good job setting the ball today. It is great when you can play a backup player and have the team come together and pull off another victory."

Both teams played each other close throughout the match. Game one had five ties and two lead changes in the first 16 points before Heather Smith (Chino Hills, CA/ Ayala H.S.) spurred a 5-0 TWU run with two kills, making the score 13-8. The Lady Lions fought their way back and tied the game at 15-15 thanks to some hitting errors by the Pioneers. The game was tied five more times, but Courtney Lewis (San Antonio, TX/Panola College) recorded three of her 11 kills in the late stages of the game and gave TWU a 30-26 win. In game two, TAMU-C turned in their best hitting performance of the day as they recorded 20 kills on a .333 attack percentage while TWU hit a match low .174. With the game knotted at 28-28, Smith committed a hitting error and Chantae Weathers put down one of her 16 kills to give the Lady Lions a 28-30 win.

"We really pulled together and played a great match today. This team just keeps getting better and better every time we play. We communicate on the court well and work as a team to get wins," Pabalate said. "This was one of my best matches of the year. I am really proud of how I played."

Game three was close in the early going as both teams exchanged the lead two times with nine ties. Marci Brinkman (Carrollton, TX/Newman Smith H.S.) and Meredith Fry (Burnet, TX/Burnet H.S.) pulled together for a block, then Brinkman recorded a kill in the very next point to give TWU a 15-13 lead. After a couple of Lady Lions hitting errors, the Pioneers had a commanding 20-15 lead. Lewis recorded the final three kills in game three to give TWU a 2-1 lead in the match with a 30-19 win. In game four, TWU took the lead 3-2 in the early going and never looked back. Pabalate gave the Pioneers a 12-6 lead with two straight kills, but TAMU-C was not done as they rallied to within three, 21-18, thanks to four kills from Amy Wallace. Smith ended the match after four games when she turned in two more kills to give TWU the 30-25 win.

TWU finished the match with 60 kills and 17 errors on 172 swings for an attack percentage of .250. Smith led the team with 15 kills while Lewis and Pabalate both recorded double-doubles with 11 kills apiece to go along with 15 and 13 digs, respectively. Brinkman was the fourth Pioneer with double digits in kills as she chipped in with 13. Fry led TWU with season-highs of 44 assists, three service aces and 13 digs.

Up next, the Pioneers host conference rival Midwestern State University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28 in Kitty Magee Arena.