? UTSA/Louisiana Tech box score
? Auburn/Texas A&M box score
? UTSA/Texas A&M box score
? Photo gallery
| Victoria Prior had a season-high 21 kills against Louisiana Tech. |
SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday at the UTSA Classic. The Roadrunners (4-7) opened the day with a five-game victory against Louisiana Tech (30-25,25-30, 30-16, 18-30, 15-11) before falling to Texas A&M in the nightcap(30-18, 30-24, 30-23).
UTSA ended its two-match losing streak when it held off the Lady Techsters (5-7) in five games in day's first contest.
The Roadrunners hit .300 as a team in the first game and was led by junior middle hitter Victoria Prior's 10 kills. The next frame saw 12 ties and four lead changes and Louisiana Tech rebounded to post a five-point victory. After the intermission, UTSA battled back from an early deficit and scored 18 of the final 23 points to go up 2-1. The Lady Techsters would not go down without a fight, as they scored 17 of the final 24 tallies of frame four to force a fifth and deciding game. It was all Roadrunners in the early going, as they jumped out to a 5-1 advantage. However, Louisiana Tech battled back to tie the game at six, but UTSA slowly pulled away for the victory.
Prior led the Roadrunners with a .439 hitting percentage on the strength of a match- and season-high 21 winners. Three other players ? freshman outside hitter Kendra Rowland (14), junior outside hitter Gen Rhodes (13) and freshman middle hitter Valorie Rogers (10) ? also reached double figures. Rowland led five Roadrunners that recorded double-digit digs with 14 for her fourth double-double of the year.
Outside hitter Shannon Phillips had 18 kills, setter Jill Walker dished out a match-high 44 assists and libero Brittney Nakamura registered a match-best 21 digs for Louisiana Tech.
Texas A&M (10-0) continued its perfect run to open the season when it swept UTSA in the tournament's final match in front of the sixth-largest crowd in school history (696).
After the Roadrunners pulled within one at 16-15 in the first game, the Aggies reeled off 14 of the final 17 points to go up 1-0. UTSA made things interesting in the final two frames, but the Aggies proved to be too much, as they breezed through the two-day event without dropping a game.
Prior again led the Roadrunners, as she swatted 16 winners, hit .406 and recorded four total blocks (1 solo/3 assists). Junior libero Audrey Hiser had a match-high 25 digs, which was her third match of 20 or more in her last five outings. Rowland added another double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Tournament MVP Mary Batis had 11 winners for A&M and she also led three Aggies in double figures with 19 digs.
In the day's other match, Texas A&M swept Auburn (30-17, 30-22, 30-15). Batis led the Aggies with a match-high 11 kills and 12 digs, while outside hitter Kelsey Bryant recorded seven total blocks (1 solo/6 assists). Outside hitter Jessica Glover paced the Tigers (8-3) with 10 winners and a match-best 15 digs.
UTSA is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Dallas to face SMU (7-3).
2007 UTSA Classic All-Tournament Team
Mary Batis, OH, Texas A&M (MVP)
Jen Moore, L, Texas A&M
Kelly Stanton, MB, Texas A&M
Whitney Jacob, MB, Auburn
Rachel Shanks, OH, Auburn
Victoria Prior, MH, UTSA
Shannon Phillips, OH, Louisiana Tech