The volleyball team won both matches against Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) rival Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) this weekend. The Saints improve to 7-4 overall and 4-0 in conference. The Eagles drop to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the RRAC.

Head Coach Scott Mattera commented, “We played a great game on Friday night. I liked our response to the loud environment that Texarkana provides. Everybody contributed to a nice win on the road. Texarkana gave us their best shot on Saturday. We really focused on staying mentally tough through adversity. We learned a lot this weekend regarding physical and mental skills.”

History
This was the first meeting between the two programs. TAMUT is currently in its inaugural season.

First match (Sept. 16)
Basics
The Saints defeated the Eagles in four sets to start the weekend. OLLU tallied double digit kills in the first set and only committed four errors. Despite only having a .025 hitting percentage in the second frame, the Eagles were able to tie the match at 1-1. The Saints rallied in the third set behind 13 kills and limited Texarkana to a .000 hitting percentage. The Eagles battled in the fourth set, but the Saints were able to finish the match with a 25-21 fourth frame victory.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 16

Set Two – TAMUT 25 – OLLU 22

Set Three – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 16

Set Four – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 21

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded 12 kills and four errors on 40 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .200.

The Saints had nine kills in the second set and five errors on 38 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .105.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 13 kills and eight errors on 38 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .132.

The Saints had 14 kills in the fourth set and seven errors on 47 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .149.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 48 kills for a hitting percentage of .147. Texarkana totaled 32 kills for a hitting percentage of .014.

Mia Dorsey and Mia Francis led the Saints with 12 kills each. Alicia Hamm totaled a team-high 12 kills for the Eagles.

Lauren Reynard assisted on 36 plays for the Saints while Zuleica Cruz tallied 14 assists for Texarkana.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 74 digs, led by Tina Trevino with 27. Ambree Anderle and Claudia Etling tallied 14 digs apiece for the Eagles.

Serving it up
Trevino and Reynard both tallied four aces for the Saints. Sasha Bajek recorded two service aces for Texarkana.

Second match (Sept. 17)
Basics
Saturday’s match was identical to the day before, with the Saints winning the first, third and fourth set. Both teams were held to low hitting percentages throughout the match. The Saints had three players finish with double digit kills and Reynard totaled 44 assists. OLLU also boasted 88 digs and seven service aces.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 17

Set Two – TAMUT 25 – OLLU 22

Set Three – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 18

Set Four – OLLU 25 – TAMUT 21

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded 16 kills and seven errors on 47 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .191.

The Saints had nine kills in the second set and eight errors on 44 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .023.

In the third set, OLLU recorded 15 kills and seven errors on 36 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .222.

The Saints had 13 kills in the fourth set and seven errors on 49 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .122.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 53 kills for a hitting percentage of .136. Texarkana totaled 36 kills for a hitting percentage of .075.

Dorsey led the Saints with 15 kills. Hamm totaled a team-high nine kills for the Eagles.

Reynard assisted on 44 plays for the Saints while Cruz tallied 17 assists for Texarkana.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 88 digs, led by Trevino with 28. Etling tallied 24 digs for the Eagles.

Serving it up
Tijana Kruta had four service aces for the Saints. Three different Eagles tallied one service ace.

What’s next
The Saints continue the road trip with a pair of matches against University of the Southwest starting on Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.