TWU DROPS DALLAS BAPTIST 3-1 IN HOME FINALE

DENTON, TX—Texas Woman’s University (15-16) had four players in double digits in kills and hit at a season-high .341 clip to beat Dallas Baptist (6-15) for the second time this season, 3-1 (30-20, 30-23, 29-31, 30-20). Departing seniors, Heather Smith (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala H.S.) and Marci Brinkman (Carrollton, TX/Newman Smith H.S) combined for 34 of the Pioneers’ 77 kills with Smith leading the way with a team-high 19.

"This was a nice win because we finished out our home schedule on a good note. Our two seniors played great tonight with both finishing with double digits in kills," head coach Shelly Barberee said. "I told the team before the match started that I wanted us to hit .320 and we finished with .341, which is our best attack percentage this season. They stepped it up tonight and that is what we need heading into our final two conference games of the season."

TWU was on fire in game one as they broke out to a quick 10-3 lead with six kills coming from Brinkman and Smith. The Pioneers kept their seven-point lead throughout the frame, pulling away at the end with an ace and a kill from Jenny Madrid (Panama City, Panama/Hill College) to win 30-20. TWU recorded a match-high .415 attack percentage in game one with 22 kills on 41 attempts. It was much of the same in game two as the Pioneers jumped out to a 9-3 advantage and never looked back. After a kill by Brinkman and an ace by Meredith Fry (Burnet, TX/Burnet H.S.), TWU had its biggest lead of the game, 19-10. DBU battled back to close the gap to 22-16 thanks to four kills from Leah Holmblad, but that was as close as they would come, losing 30-23.

Game three was the closest of the match as there were 11 ties and three lead changes. The Patriots took a 1-2 lead early going and extended it to 5-10 when TWU recorded three straight hitting errors. The Pioneers went on a 5-0 run to knot the game at 10-10, but did not take the lead until Robin Hawkins (Flower Mound, TX/ Flower Mound H.S.) connected with her first kill of the game, making the score 19-18. The Pioneers kept a two point lead through the late stages of the game, but two kills from Holmblad and a hitting error by Courtney Lewis (San Antonio, TX/Panola College) gave DBU the win, 29-31. Game four was tied three times in the early going before Brinkman landed a kill to give TWU a 4-3 lead. Melanie Pabalate (Fort Worth, TX/Navarro College) hit two-straight kills to push the Pioneer lead to 9-4. Later in the game, Lewis served an ace and recorded one of her six kills, making the score 19-10. Lewis and Pabalate came together for two block assists and Lewis added another kill to give TWU the match win with a 30-20 victory in game four.

"I had a lot of fun tonight. Heather and I wanted to do well in our last match at home, and we accomplished that. This win should give us some good momentum heading into our last conference matches of the season against Central Oklahoma and Cameron," Brinkman said. "It has been a bittersweet season for Heather and I because we started out slow, but the team came together once conference started and now we are in a position to win the Lone Star Conference North Division and have a first round bye in the conference tournament. This has been a great season so far and hopefully, it will keep getting better."

TWU finished the match with 77 kills and 16 errors on 179 swings for an attack percentage of .341. Pabalate, Brinkman and Madrid all finished with 15 kills apiece. Those 15 kills were a season-high for Pabalate, along with her .682 attack percentage. Smith and Brinkman both finished with double-doubles as Smith chipped in with a season-high 22 digs while Brinkman recorded 11. Fry recorded a career-high 54 assists to go along with her seven digs. DBU hit .193 as a team with 58 kills on 166 swings. Holmblad led the Patriots with a match-high 21 kills.

Up next, the Pioneers hit the road for their final two matches of the 2003 season. TWU will face Central Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. and Cameron on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. If the Pioneers win just one of those two matches, they will clinch the Lone Star Conference North Division Championship for the first time since 1997.