Commerce, Texas – The Southern Arkansas volleyball team was swept in straight sets, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25, by Dallas Baptist University Saturday afternoon at Lion Fieldhouse despite a season-high .204 (37-108-15) attacking percentage.
The Lady Muleriders took a 17-12 lead in the first set, riding senior
Amanda Monge's four kills, one block and service ace. The Patriots, however, would fight back to score six of the next seven points, spearheaded by three Sidnee Jo Fitzpatric and two Krystal Wunderlich kills, to tie the game at 18. DBU (2-4) pulled away on the backend of the set, led by Wunderlich's five kills, capturing the first set 25-20.
Monge finished the first set 5-for-13 attacking, while freshman
Alli O'Banion swung a highly efficient .750 (3-4-0).
SAU (0-8) found itself on the other end in the second set, trailing 14-18. The Lady Muleriders tried to fight back, scoring on a kill apiece from
Logan Tolbert,
Shelby Lauterbach and Monge and a Patriot attacking error. But after a Lauterbach kill saw the Muleriders trailing 20-24, DBU's Tiara Gipson fired a kill to ice the second set for the Patriots.
Lauterbach and Tolbert combined for four total team blocks in the second set.
With the pivotal third set tied at 16, DBU got two kills from Wunderlich and two SAU errors to push the lead to 20-17. The Lady Muleriders were unable to bounce back from the three-point deficit and eventually fell 21-25.
Monge and O'Banion recorded five kills and Lauterbach added three to award SAU its most efficient set at .270 (14-3-37). Sophomore
Hailey McNee subbed in late in the third set to record SAU's 14
th kill of the set.
On the offensive end, Monge tied her three-set career-high with 13 kills, while Lauterbach made her defensive presence felt in her first career start at SAU, recording a match-high five blocks. Tolbert nearly matched Lauterbach, rejecting four Patriot attacks. .
The Lady Muleriders return to the Lion Fieldhouse court for their final game in the A&M-Commerce Tournament at 5 p.m. CT versus Texas Woman's.
