STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton has advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the fourth consecutive season after sweeping the fifth-seeded West Texas A&M Lady Buffs in front of a packed house at Wisdom Gym Friday.
This accomplishment is another mark on the impressive four-year resumes of seniors Hailey Roberts and Chandler Gow, who are now the only players in school history to qualify for the league title game in every season of a four-year career. Saturday's sweep of West Texas A&M also brings their careers full circle because it was in the semifinal round in Canyon in 2014 that Gow, Roberts, and the TexAnns knocked off the Lady Buffs in a five-set thriller after being behind as many as 11-5 in the fifth set to advance to their first-ever LSC title match.
The win also gives Tarleton a new single-season record for victories, topping each of the last two seasons' mark of 27.
The Lady Buffs came out swinging to the tune of a 13-9 lead over the opening 22 points, but a kill from Hailey Roberts turned the tide and started a run of five answered by the TexAnns to give them a 14-13 advantage.
After WT retook the lead at 16-15, Tarleton had another 6-0 run left in the tank – sparked by four blocks – all of which had Amber Strange as a part of the blocking tandem. Alexis Applewhite combined for three while Adriana Darthuy had the other block in the six-point surge to put the TexAnns up 21-16.
The Lady Buffs scored three of the next four but Tarleton ended things with three straight points on an Applewhite kill, a Jordyn Keamo and Hannah McManus block, and an attack error by the Lady Buff setter.
Tarleton kept the momentum rolling from the opening set by jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the second set. WT pulled as close as five on three occasions, only as late as 12-7 before a kill from Adriana Darthuy started a 13-6 Tarleton run to close out the set. Applewhite landed her fourth kill shot of the match to seal the deal at 25-13.
The TexAnns were forced to rally again in the third set after WT scored 10 of the first 15 points for a 10-5 lead. An attack error opened the door, however, and the TexAnns pushed it open with a 15-9 run of their own to take a 20-18 lead late in the set.
WT answered with four of the next five to take a 22-21 lead and forced
Mary Schindler into a timeout.
Roberts and Darthuy answered the call with back-to-back kills for a 23-22 lead before WT evened it once again at 23-23. After the teams traded points to make it 24-24, Darthuy put the TexAnns in the title game with back-to-back kills.
Roberts powered down 22 kills, which is the most in one of Tarleton's 20 sweeps this season, on a .283 hitting percentage while Darthuy landed 15 kills on a .333 mark. Roberts is now 50 kills away from passing the all-time Lone Star Conference kills record (2,405).
Jordyn Keamo led the offense with 33 assists while Blanca Izquierdo also cracked double figures with 10. Adrianna Knutson led the team with 21 digs, which moves her closer to the 1,400-dig plateau in her career with 1,377. Michaela Rodriguez also had 13 digs.
Tarleton will match up with No. 6-seeded Texas Woman's for the LSC Tournament title and an automatic berth in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
