Box Score AUSTIN - Tarleton rode the momentum of a thrilling first-set victory to knock off St. Edward's in four in a Tuesday night non-conference contest at the SEU Recreation Center.
In the opening set, the Hilltoppers took an early 10-6 lead but the TexAnns clawed back to make the score 12-13 before Jazmine Green landed a kill to even the score at 13-13. The Green kill started a 7-0 Tarleton run to put the TexAnns up 19-13.
The TexAnns pushed their lead to 22-16 but the Hilltoppers rallied with an 8-2 run to take take the game point at 24-23. Green landed another kill to even the score at 24-24 and force extra points.
The teams battled through a 30-30 tie before back-to-back kills by Stacie Murrah and the game-winner by Katie Covell.
In the second set, the teams continued to stay even through 7-7 but St. Edward's ended the set on a 18-10 run to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 victory.
Tarleton jumped out to an early six-point lead and extended it to 13-7 but the Hilltoppers battled back to even the score at 16-16. The tie stretched out to 19-19 before an error was the beginning of a 6-2 Tarleton run capped off with a game-ending kill by Murrah.
In the fourth and final set, Tarleton held a slim lead for most of the set until late in the set when SEU took a 24-23 lead. However, Tarleton evened the score and took a one-point advantage on two straight kills by Covell and then won the set on a game-ending kill by Jasmyne Brown.
The win highlighted Emily Klein's milestone night.
Klein, a senior libber from Amarillo, led the team with 27 digs and moved into second place on Tarleton's all-time digs list. With 1,474 career kills, Klein passed Sharon Lister, who played for the Purple and White from 1996-99 and finished her career with 1,463.
On the night, Murrah led the team with 18 kills while Green (17) and Covell (15) also cracked double figures while Danielle Barker led the team with 47 assists on the night.
Tarleton will stay on the road this weekend as the TexAnns visit Midwestern State Friday night and Cameron Saturday afternoon.
QUICK HITS
- With 18 kills, Stacie Murrah inched closer to a milestone of her own. The senior is now six kills away from becoming the seventh TexAnn in school history with 1,000 career kills.
- Tarleton is now 6-13 all-time against St. Edward's, including wins in four of the last five meetings.
- Of Tarleton's last 14 sets, they have gone to extra points in five of them.
- By avoiding a fifth set Tuesday night, Tarleton continues its streak of not playing in three straight five-set games. The last time Tarleton played in three consecutive five-set games was in Sept. 2005.
