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Hounds sweep again on court

STAFF WRITER

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For the fifth-straight time, the Eastern New Mexico volleyball team swept its opponent in straight sets. This time, the Greyhounds sent the University of Texas of the Permian Basin home with an emphatic 25-20, 25-16, 25-18 Lone Star Conference win.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Eastern senior outside hitter Courtney Lawson loads up for a spike during the first set of Tuesday’s match against the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Lawson finished with four kills and ENMU won in straight sets.

Paced by Brooklyn Biel’s 17 kills, ENMU (15-10, 10-5 LSC) jumped atop UTBP (7-19, 3-13) from the start and never looked back as clean passes, good sets and 49 total kills made this match a breeze as Eastern has finally gotten in a groove the last few weeks.

“We’re just playing better now,” coach Sia Poyer said. “I really don’t think it’s a goal of us to try to win in three (sets) because the teams here are good. Even though we’re winning in three, we’re not always dominating because some of those wins were close. It’s nice to win in three because it shows we’re getting better and playing quality ball.”

Reigning LSC Offensive Player of the Week Lauren Frye finished with 14 kills as the other Hound with double-digit kills. No Eastern player finished with a double-double in the contest but Alexis Aguirre and Tiana Roebuck finished with 26 and 19 assists, respectively. Both ladies also recorded one service ace each.

“I’ve been happy with our consistent serving,” Poyer said. “It’s a lot easier to defend when they aren’t passing well. Our libero, (Clovis-native Andrea) Aguliar has been putting up great numbers. Andrea defensively is like Lauren offensively.”

While the team has been playing well, Eastern has also been doing it short-handed as a few key players are just returning from injury or illness.

“It’s great to have Amanda (Dietz) back,” Poyer said. “Jennifer (Martinez) did a good job stepping up while she was injured but it’s good to have her back in the lineup.”

Dietz finished with five kills.

Eastern hits the road for a three-game road trip that begins Friday against Texas Woman’s at 6 p.m.

West Texas A &M 5, ENMU 0

West Texas A&M avenged a loss on Saturday at Greyhound Stadium with a 5-0 win over ENMU in the first round of the Heartland Conference tournament to end the Greyhounds’ season.

WT (14-4-1) wasted little time taking control, scoring three goals in the first 13 minutes of the match. ENMU (7-8-4) was outshot 14-3 overall, including 10-3 on goal.

Mirza Dizdarevic scored just over three minutes into the match, and that was followed by WT goals from Thomas Vickers and Evan Bozman. The Buffaloes opened a 4-0 at halftime.