Box Score (html)
AUSTIN, Texas – Carly Zak had a team-high eight kills in the SWOSU Volleyball season opener on Thursday evening, but 12 costly service errors hurt the Bulldogs in a straight-set defeat against St. Edward's. SEU won the match 3-0 with set scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-23.
After rushing out to an early 11-7 lead in the first set, SWOSU was stymied by the Hilltoppers and held to just three points the rest of the set. The Bulldogs overcame an eight-point deficit in the second set to tie the set on two occasions, but each time committed a service error on the ensuing point, allowing St. Edward's to pull away for the 25-19 win of set two.
The Bulldogs would not go away easily, racing out to a 4-0 lead after the intermission and gaining control early in the set. St. Edward's would again fight back and take a 17-14 lead in the middle of the set before the Bulldogs rallied to within one at 20-19 on back-to-back kills from Zak. SWOSU would eventually tie the set at 22-22 all, forcing an SEU timeout before the Hilltoppers scored three of the final four points to secure the victory.
SWOSU committed 23 attack errors and hit just .073 in the match with 32 kills, led by Zak's team-high of eight. A pair of newcomers,
Kelsi Schmidtberger and
Paige Holt each had six kills apiece with Schmidtberger hitting at a .385 in her SWOSU debut and setter
Kayla Hebert recorded her first double-double as a Bulldogs with 28 assists and 10 digs.
Kaila Lancaster opened her senior season with a team-best 16 digs while Schmidtberger and
Addie Aman each had two block assists each to lead the Dawgs.
The Bulldogs will have a quick opportunity to bounce back from the defeat as they face Tiffin tomorrow at noon before facing Missouri S&T tomorrow night at 8:00 pm for Day 2 of the Hilltopper Classic.
