Greyhounds rally for tie in Lubbock

STAFF REPORT

LUBBOCK — Senior Melissa Moxley scored off a free kick with just under 19 minutes left in regulation to help Eastern New Mexico University overcome an own goal and salvage a 2-2 tie against Lubbock Christian in women’s soccer on Saturday.

Moxley, a midfielder from Rio Rancho, was involved in the own goal when she tried unsuccessfully to clear the ball out from near the goal and tapped it into the ENMU net, making it 2-1 about nine minutes into the second half.

The teams played through a pair of scoreless 10-minute overtimes. It was the third meeting of the programs all-time, with the series now standing 1-1-1.

LCU (1-0-1) scored in the seventh minute when senior forward Brooke Wendl was able to curl a corner kick past ENMU goalkeeper Cristina Escobedo and into the net. Senior forward Danielle Caro tied it for the Greyhounds (0-1-1) with a goal on a penalty kick late in the first half.

Escobedo recorded five saves in the match while LCU senior keeper Lauren Story had three saves.

The Hounds return to action on Tuesday when they visit Adams State.

Volleyball — In the season-opening Lady Buff Classic hosted by West Texas A&M at Canyon, Texas, ENMU split matches for the second day in a row. The Hounds dropped a 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 15-8 decision to Dallas Baptist on Saturday morning before riding a fast start to a 25-14, 25-21, 26-24 win over Adams State in the afternoon.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Frye notched 12 kills for the Zias, while junior outside hitter Courtney Lawson added six kills and 13 digs and senior outside hitter Brooklyn Beal contributed seven kills and six total blocks (two solos).

The Hounds ran out to a 14-5 lead in the first game and were never challenged by the Grizzlies (0-4) as Frey notched five of her kills in that set.

Adams State made it tougher on ENMU the rest of the way. The Grizzlies led 6-3 early in the second set and never trailed by more than two points until the Hounds took advantage of an attack error and a service error to go up 22-19 late.

Kills from Biel and Lawson closed out the set.

In Game 3, Aguirre opened the third game with a pair of aces, but Adams State rallied for a 5-3 lead and it stayed close from there, with neither team leading by more than three points. With the score 24-24, Talaitupu Faumui put down a kill and the Grizzlies committed an attack error on match point.

Earlier, Carly Hess collected 14 kills while Tadam Mergener added 11 kills and 11 digs as Dallas Baptist (2-1) rallied from a two sets to one deficit to outlast the Hounds.

The Patriots overcame a 19-16 deficit in Game 4, scoring nine of the last 12 points, then led all the way in the fifth set.

Frye posted 21 kills and Lawson added 15 kills and 10 digs for the Zias, while sophomore setter Alexis Aguirre had 40 sets.