MARSHALL, Texas - The Whitman College women's volleyball team opened its Texas trip with a pair of losses, falling in sweeps first to St. Thomas (TX) then at East Texas Baptist on Friday at Ornelas Gymnasium.
St. Thomas 3 Whitman 0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-19)
The opener saw Bella Vickers lead the Blues (0-5) with 11 kills and Jackie Zapanta post a match-high 15 digs.Â
Whitman lost handily in the opening set but made a strong bid to even the match in set two. The Blues fell behind early but back-to-back Vickers kills evened the score at 5-5. Later, consecutive kills from Lilli Thompson helped extend to a 12-7 lead. Midway through the set, however, St. Thomas reeled off four unanswered highlighted by a pair of kills from Ashlyne Fitzgerald to even the set.
The Blues appeared on the verge of leveling the match after two straight kills by Nicole Kelly put her team up 21-16. St. Thomas closed the set on a sensational run, scoring nine of the final 10 points to take a commanding two-set lead.
The Blues hung around for much of the third set, but St. Thomas pulled away late to complete the sweep.
ETBU 3 Whitman 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-15)
Whitman lost handily to the host Tigers in the second match of the day. Vickers led the Blues with seven kills and Kelly and Kenzie Martinez both added five more. Zapanta again posted a match high in digs with 13.
Avery Reid led the way for the Tigers with 15 kills, 10 digs and four blocks.
Whitman was outdone by a lopsided hitting difference as ETBU hit at a .381 clip with the Blues only at .085.Â
The Blues were competitive in the opening set, but mammoth runs by ETBU in sets two and three contributed to the sweep.
The Blues close the trip on Saturday with matches against Hardin-Simmons and Hendrix.
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