SAN ANGELO – Tarleton officially began its Lone Star Conference title defense with back-to-back wins over regional rivals to kick off the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational at Angelo State University.
   
Tarleton opened up the 2016 in domination fashion as the TexAnns swept the Rattlers 25-13, 25-19, and 25-15 to win their fourth consecutive season opener. The win is also the third straight in the series against St. Mary's – all sweeps – dating back to 2014.
 
Two-time All-American Hailey Roberts, who is coming off a record-setting season of 728 kills as a sophomore, wasted no time getting on the board as a junior when she blasted home the first kill of the season for the TexAnns to start a quick 3-0 run for Tarleton.
 
Tarleton maintained a slim lead through 10-6 before Roberts landed a kill shot off a pass from Jordyn Keamo to start a 6-0 TexAnn surge. Over that span, Rebecca Dauenhauer had a hand in three blocks – including one solo – in her first career Tarleton start. St. Mary's cut the Tarleton lead down to eight, but a Rattler service error started a set-ending 7-3 Tarleton run to give the TexAnns the first game of the year.
 
St. Mary's came out swinging in the second set, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead.
 
Hannah McManus put a stop to the Rattler run with a kill shot that sparked a 13-2 Tarleton run to put the TexAnns on top 15-12. Over that span, Tarleton got three blocks from McManus and kills from Roberts, Keamo, and Rebecca Schlorff.
 
The Rattlers bounced back with a quick 7-5 surge to pull within two at 20-18, but a service error gave a point and the serve back to the TexAnns. At 21-18, Tarleton got four of the next five to seal the deal at 25-19.
 
In the final set, the TexAnns opened up with an 8-4 lead before a block from Hailey Roberts cued up a 9-2 Tarleton run to put the Purple and White on top 17-6. St. Mary's pulled within eight at 20-12, but Tarleton ended the game on a 5-3 advantage to sweep the Rattlers.
 
Roberts led the way with 14 kills on 22 attacks with no service errors for a .636 hitting percentage. Her 14 kills with no errors is a school record for most kills in a game without recording an error. Amanda Wallace and Kenya Alexander each had 12 kills in a game without recording an error. Roberts also had a team-high 10 digs to open the season with her 40^th career double-double.
 
Jordyn Keamo made her Tarleton debut with a 20-assist performance while Dauenhauer and McManus led the way in the middle with five blocks each.
   
Tarleton improved to 2-0 on the young season for the third consecutive year with a four-set win over Regis Friday.
 
Hailey Roberts picked right up where she left off in the first match by landing the first two points of the match off passes from Keamo. She later added back-to-back service aces as the junior from Cedar Park accounted for four of the first six Tarleton points.
 
Regis kept Tarleton's lead at four through 11-7 before Roberts struck again and sparked a 14-8 run over the remainder of the first set that ended in a 25-15 win for the TexAnns.
 
Tarleton faced its toughest set of the afternoon in the second game against the Rangers.
 
The TexAnns maintained a slim lead throughout the first 41 points and Tarleton built a 22-19 lead. A 4-1 run by Regis, however, made that lead disappear and evened things up at 23-23. After a Roberts kill, back-to-back points from Regis gave the Rangers match point at 25-24.
 
But Roberts was too much.
 
The junior tied the score with Tarleton's next two points – evening the score at 25-25 and again at 26-26. Regis kept the advantage at 27-26 before Rebecca Dauenhauer landed a kill to tie the game for the final time at 27-27. A block from McManus and Autumn Taylor put Tarleton in the advantage before a Regis attack error delivered a 29-27 Tarleton victory.
 
Tarleton dropped its third set and was forced to come from behind in set four.
 
The TexAnns trailed the entire fourth set through 17-18 before a kill from Roberts and a solo block from Dauenhauer turned the tide and gave Tarleton a 19-18 lead. The teams traded points and tied the score seven more times down the stretch before a Roberts kill and a solo block from Gow sealed the match and a 2-0 start to the season.
 
Hailey Roberts recorded her first 20-kill match of the season with a team-high 23 kills on a .268 hitting percentage. She added 12 digs for her 41^st career double-double.
 
Hannah McManus and Rebecca Dauenhauer combined for 15 kills from the middle blocker position. Adrianna Knutson led the TexAnns with 20 digs while Keamo exploded for 44 assists, bringing her total to 64 assists in her first two games as a TexAnn.
 
Tarleton will return to action at 10 a.m. against South Dakota Mines in the Junell Center at Angelo State.