STEPHENVILLE – Just three games after setting a league-high hitting percentage against Cameron last week, Tarleton kept the good time rolling by setting a new season high Friday night in a sweep of Eastern New Mexico.
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Tarleton blasted the Greyhounds to the tune of a .444 hitting percentage, including a .524 effort with no errors in the opening set and a .519 performance in the match-clinching third set. It marks the highest hitting percentage by a Lone Star Conference team this season, topping the TexAnns' previous high mark of .427 from last Friday night against Cameron. It is also the fifth-highest scoring performance in school history.
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Leading the charge was Tarleton's
Hailey Roberts with 14 kills on 21 swings with a .524 hitting clip while
Autumn Taylor came off the bench to land 10 kills. From the middle spot,
Rebecca Dauenhauer (7-1-12) and
Hannah McManus (6-0-10) combined for 13 kills while McManus led the team with a .600 hitting performance.
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Jordyn Keamo was the maestro of the night, leading the TexAnns from the setter position with 33 of the team's 37 assists on the night.
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The teams stayed relatively tight over the first 16 points as Tarleton maintained a modest 10-6 advantage, but a Greyhound error and a Taylor kill shot put Tarleton up 12-6 to force a Greyhound timeout and kick start a TexAnn rally. Tarleton finished the set by scoring 13 of the final 17 points following the timeout to claim the opening set 25-10.
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The second set saw the tightest contest of the night as Eastern New Mexico stayed within two points at 17-15. A kill shot from
Chandler Gow was the start of an 8-6 run down the stretch – capped off by a set-ending kill shot from
Hannah McManus – to deliver a 25-21 set victory to Tarleton.
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Tarleton opened up the third set by taking 12 of the first 20 points to build a 12-8 lead and force the Greyhounds into a timeout.
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Out of the break, however, the TexAnns were dominant.
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The TexAnns scored 12 of the next 15 points, including six straight served up by Roberts, to set up match point at 24-11. Eastern New Mexico delayed the inevitable with three straight points before Dauenhauer landed the final kill of the match to cap off the sweep – Tarleton's fourth consecutive 3-0 win and seventh straight overall.
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Roberts added a team-high 11 digs for a double-double in the match while
Michaela Rodriguez (8) and
Adrianna Knutson (7) combined for 15 digs. Tarleton's defense held the Greyhounds to a .154 hitting clip for the match, including a .000 percentage in the first set.
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Tarleton will get back to action tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. with the annual 'Dig Pink' game to raise awareness for breast cancer. The TexAnns will host Western New Mexico for the pink game.
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