Wildcats Battle Strong but Drop Two to #18 ETBU
PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College volleyball team showed some growth in its two matches against #18 East Texas Baptist, even forcing the second match into a deciding fifth set, but ultimately it was not to be as the Lady ‘Cats dropped both matches to the Tigers, 3-1 (25-17, 25-7, 24-26, 25-20) and 3-2 (25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 24-26, 15-8) Friday evening at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Match 1 – East Texas Baptist 3 (25, 25, 24, 25), Louisiana College 1 (17, 7, 26, 20)
ETBU jumped out quickly in the first set of the opening match, scoring the first five points to open up an early lead. LC scored four of the next five to get back within two on a kill by Leah Stamps to make it 6-4, and would trade points over the next few rallies. Ultimately, a run of eight out of nine points by the Tigers was too much to overcome and ETBU scored the first set 25-17.
The second set was pretty much all ETBU as the Tigers tallied the first seven points and didn’t look back to the 25-7 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3 looked to be more of the same as ETBU again jumped out to a 5-0 lead out of the gate. But this time there was an answer by LC. A kill by Paris Babino made it 9-6 and also started a run of six straight points by the Lady ‘Cats as LC took its first lead of the match. A service ace by Daycie Theriot gave LC an 11-9 lead. The Lady ‘Cats found themselves ahead 22-19, only to see the Tigers score four straight to reclaim the lead with the match on the line. But the Wildcats would not be denied as LC scored four out of the final five points in the set to take their first set victory of the season 26-24.
LC tried to keep that momentum going into the fourth set, but again found themselves trailing quickly. But again, the Lady ‘Cats strung a few rallies together, and then when Paris Babino and Royanne Narcisse put together back-to-back kills, LC tied the score at 11-11. However, after trading points, ETBU rattled off six straight for an 18-12 lead and LC could not recover and dropped the match.
Sadi Jones led the LC offense in match one with ten kills. Leah Stamps had seven kills and six digs. Paris Babino finished with 19 assists and eight digs. I’Nyah Kately finished with 14 digs while Jaslyn Bright added 12.
Match 2 – East Texas Baptist 3 (25, 25, 16, 24, 15), Louisiana College 2 (21, 17, 25, 26, 8)
The Lady ‘Cats continued to battle tough with ETBU, but ultimately found themselves down 2-0 in the match. However, LC did not stop battling as the Lady ‘Cats opened up an early lead in the third set as a set error by the Tigers made it 9-4 LC. With the set tied at 13, a kill by Abby Revell got things moving in the positive direction for LC, kicking off a run of 10 out of 11 points being scored by the Lady ‘Cats to take control of the set as a kill by Sadi Jones made it 23-14. LC would finish out the set victory at 25-16.
The fourth set of match two appeared headed to a similar fate as match one when ETBU jumped out to a 10-5 lead. But LC responded in a big way, scoring nine out of the next 12 points to take the lead at 14-13 on a miscue by the Tigers. ETBU responded to get back ahead 19-15. But LC was not done, scoring eight of the next ten, including two kills by Abby Revell and an ace by Jaslyn Bright, to reclaim the lead at 23-21. With ETBU up 24-23, Revell slotted home a kill to tie the score and force extra rallies, and Sadi Jones did the rest as her back-to-back kills ended the set in LC’s favor and force the fifth and deciding set.
But the final set seemed to be one too many, and while LC hung tough throughout the first ten points, even at 5-5, ETBU scored ten of the last 13 to close out the match.
Sadi Jones was big for the Wildcats efforts, amassing 20 kills in the nightcap to go with a block solo and block assist. Jaslyn Bright added 14 kills, an assist, an ace, and 14 digs. Paris Babino notched 46 assists and 16 digs to go with three kills and an ace.
After a week off, the Wildcats (0-4, 0-4 ASC) look to get on the positive side of the ledger when they head to Richardson, Texas for a date with Texas-Dallas. Opening serve of the doubleheader against the Comets (2-0, 2-0 ASC) is set for 4:30 P.M. on Tuesday March 9th at the UTD Activity Center.
