The Lady Colonels volleyball team defeated the University of Houston, but lost to the University of Texas this past weekend in the Texas Tournament held in Austin, Texas.
M. J. Engstrom, head volleyball coach, said the Texas Tournament was an excellent learning experience for the Lady Colonels.
“One of the reasons why I have a tough pre-conference schedule is because we have a tough conference. If we go and play teams that are bigger, quicker and more refined than what we are going to see on average in the Southland Conference, that is going to make us much better,” Engstrom said.
Playing in front of 1,288 spectators against Texas and 209 fans against Houston, senior outside hitter Caley Carter said the atmosphere was amazing.
“I think it was really good that we played a big school because they had a big crowd. It was a good atmosphere for us, and it was good to be able to play at a big-time place,” Carter said.
Since both Texas (2-2) and Houston (2-3) are big schools, senior outside hitter Becca Beall said the competition would help the Lady Colonels in the future.
“We played some big teams. I think it was a good competition, so it was good for us to be able to against teams like that,” Beall said.
Thanks to the 29 kills by Carter, the Lady Colonels (2-3) defeated Houston in four sets 30-24, 30-27, 21-30 and 30-27.
The Lady Colonels won the first two sets of the match, while Houston clinched the third set. With the match tied at 24 in the fourth set, the Lady Colonels clinched victory with four Carter kills in the final six points to seal the victory.
Carter had 29 kills, 11 digs and one block. Beall added 11 kills, six digs and three blocks. Freshman middle blocker KaLeigh Butler notched seven kills, four digs and blocks, while junior outside hitter Ashley Muania added six kills, 11 digs and three blocks.
With a .302 overall attack percentage, Texas defeated the Lady Colonels in four sets 30-24, 30-23, 27-30 and 30-25.
In the first set, Texas hit .500 while holding the Colonels to .091. Texas won the second set, while the Lady Colonels clinched the third set with Carter’s five kills and forced a fourth game. In the fourth set, Texas sealed the victory by going on a 21-17 lead that put the Lady Colonels in a hole that was inescapable.
Carter led the Lady Colonels offensively with 19 kills and 10 digs. Beall added 10 kills, six digs and two blocks. Junior middle blocker Brenda Ross notched 10 kills, one dig and three blocks.
The Lady Colonels said they found many positives and negatives in the Texas Tournament.
“Texas was a young team, but they are huge and that is one of the things we need to be better at is hitting around people who are tall. Houston played a great match, but we didn’t make as many mistakes as they did. I thought the offenses were pretty even,” Engstrom said.
Engstrom said she is impressed with the overall performance of several Lady Colonel players who excelled in the Texas Tournament. She said she was pleased mostly with the play of Carter and Butler.
“Caley is a very good player. She is going to make up the offense we lost with Kui (Fletcher). Her production is going to be roughly the same, and I am sure she is going to be ranked in kills just like Kui was,” Engstrom said.
“KaLeigh had an outstanding weekend as well, hitting percentage wise. She is very efficient, and she hit in the mid 1200s for the weekend, which is ecstatical against the competition we were against,” Engstrom said.
The Lady Colonels continue their season tomorrow on the road in the Wichita State Tournament in Wichita, Kan. They will play Wichita State and San Diego State tomorrow, and Oral Roberts and North Texas Sunday.
“We have a lot of work to do. The Wichita State Tourney is going to be very tough,” Engstrom said.