SAN ANGELO – A pair of sweeps over future league rivals Saturday paved the way for a 4-0 start to the TexAnn volleyball season and the school's 300^th win as a member of the NCAA.
 
The 3-0 sweeps for Tarleton Saturday came against Texas-Permian Basin and Western New Mexico, who are each expected to join the Lone Star Conference next fall.
  
Tarleton earned its first sweep of the young season in decisive fashion as the TexAnns thrashed Texas-Permian Basin to improve to 3-0.
 
Hailey Roberts got going from the get-go when the sophomore outside hitter blasted her first kill of the day off a pass from Chandler Gow. The Roberts kill started Tarleton on an 11-3 run over the beginning of the game.
 
The Falcons answered with a service ace, but it proved to be the only time in the set that Tarleton allowed Permian Basin to score back-to-back points. The TexAnns held the Falcons to a (-).062 hitting percentage in the opening set en route to a 25-10 win.
 
Roberts got the second set started the same way as the first, but this time the Falcons kept things tight through the opening 22 points as Tarleton held a slim 12-10 lead before a block from Roberts and Meg Umbel tipped the momentum to the purple side.
 
The Tarleton block started a 7-1 surge that put the TexAnns up 19-12. Despite being outscored 8-6 down the stretch, the TexAnn lead was comfortable enough for a 25-20 win, which ended the same way it began – with a kill from Roberts.
 
In the final set, the TexAnns and Falcons stayed in a dead heat through the opening eight points to a 4-4 tie but a Roberts kill started a dominating run over the rest of the set that put to rest any notion of an upset. Tarleton scored 21 of the final 29 points of the third set and kept Permian Basin from scoring consecutive points over that stretch, as well.
 
Roberts led the team in kills (17) for the third straight game. She also had 12 digs for her third double-double in as many games this year and the 20^th of her career.
 
Kenya Alexander and Xzache Mathis had seven kills each while Chandler Gow led the team with 29 assists. Ayssa Garcia led the team with 15 digs while Adrianna Knutson had 14 in her third collegiate appearance.
  
Tarleton's second sweep of the afternoon led to a few more nerves as the TexAnns and Mustangs went down to the wire with Tarleton coming out on top 27-25, 25-22, and 25-23.
 
After a Hailey Roberts kill got the scoring started for Tarleton, the TexAnns maintained a slim lead through a tight contest through the opening 33 points to an 18-15 advantage. Western New Mexico reeled off three straight points to even things up and send the game into the stretch run in a dead heat.
 
Tarleton maintained the advantage while the teams traded points through 25-25, but Roberts put an end to the back-and-forth battle with back-to-back kills off dimes from Chandler Gow to claim the opening set.
 
In the second set, Tarleton overcame an early 0-2 hole with a 9-3 run to take an early 9-5 advantage. Western New Mexico answered, however, with a 6-1 run of its own to force a timeout at 11-10. The Mustangs extended the lead to 15-13 shortly after.
 
Trailing by a pair and the stretch run of the set quickly approaching, Roberts landed a kill shot and Gow served up back-to-back service aces to turn the tide and give Tarleton the lead back.
 
Western New Mexico brought the game back to even three more times in the set, even as late as 21-21, but a Mustang service error gave Tarleton a 22-21 lead and started a 4-1 TexAnn surge to end the set in Tarleton's favor.
 
In the third set, Tarleton played behind for most of the set – trailing as deep into the set as 22-21 – but a kill shot from Xzache Mathis evened things back up at 22-22 and Tarleton's fate in a first-to-three situation.
 
Tarleton got a block from Kenya Alexander and Gow, before Alexander powered down a kill off a pass from Gow to put Tarleton in match point at 24-22. After a service error from Tarleton, Roberts put her final stamp on the weekend with the match-ending kill shot.
 
For the match, Roberts landed 15 kills while Mathis also cracked double figures with 10. Gow assisted on 33 points while Garcia led the way with 13 digs. Roberts added 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and the 21^st in her career.
 
For the tournament, Roberts blasted 87 total kills on a .386 hitting percentage while Mathis (31), Kelsey Raglin (29), and Alexander (28) also topped the 25-kill plateau. Gow assisted on 151 points while Garcia poured in a team-high 58 digs. Meg Umbel was the team leader in blocks (22) for the weekend.
 
Tarleton will make its home debut Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Howard Payne in Wisdom Gym.