Box Score                Season Stats

STEPHENVILLE - Tarleton improved to 17-5 on the season by sweeping in-region foe, St. Edward's (12-6, 7-3) Friday night at Wisdom Gym to push their winning streak to six and put a positive start on Homecoming weekend.

The TexAnns came into the contest have lost 13 of 17 total meetings against the Hilltoppers, but Friday's win marked the third TexAnn win in the last four matches and the first time to sweep against SEU since Oct. 4, 2006.

Over the beginning of the match, neither team was able to pull away. Tarleton opened the game on a 9-5 run, which quickly vanished as a 5-1 SEU push knotted the game at 10-10.

After that, Tarleton never led by more than two - while SEU never led at all - and the game went to a tie score six more times.

At 24-24, a Hilltopper attack error and an emphatic block by Nikki McNorton and Meg Umbel gave Tarleton the first-set win at 26-24.

In the second set, the TexAnns dominated from the get-go.

After the game was tied through the first four points, a kill from Katie Covell started an 11-4 Tarleton run to build a seven-point lead at 13-6. The TexAnns continued to push their big lead with a 7-5 run to make it 20-11, forcing a Hilltopper timeout.

Out of the break, Tarleton couldn't string any points together but the big lead was more than enough to give Tarleton the win at 25-16.

In the final set, St. Edward's jumped out to it's first lead of the match and held the lead until a Jazmine Green kill tied the game at 10-10 and an SEU attack error gave Tarleton the lead immediately after.

SEU retook the lead at 20-19, but Green tied the game again with a kill shot that started a 4-0 Tarleton push to force an SEU timeout at 23-20.

Out of the break, SEU scored the next two to force a Tarleton timeout at 23-22, but the TexAnns would not be denied as a kill by Stacie Murrah and a match-winning block by Umbel and Murrah gave Tarleton the victory.

Danielle Barker and Covell each recorded a double-double. Barker had 42 assists - the most in any of her eight double-doubles this season - to go along with 13 digs, while Covell's 10 kills and 18 digs gave her the 10th double-double of her season.

McNorton led the team with 11 kills and a .381 hitting percentage while Murrah also had 10 kills. Covell and Barker's 18 and 13 digs, respectively, led the team while Emily Klein (12) and Lacy Hodges (12) also cracked double figures.

Tarleton will return to LSC action as they host Abilene Christian for 'White Out' day at Wisdom Gym at 1 p.m. Saturday.