STEPHENVILLE – No. 11 Tarleton has clinched a share of the Lone Star Conference championship for the third time in program history – and second straight season – with a 3-1 win over MSU Texas (25-18, 21-25, 25-12, 25-20) on Friday in the Wisdom Volleyball Gym.
 
Tarleton has also clinched the rights to hosting the LSC Tournament, which will take place on November 8-10. The TexAnns can claim the outright regular season conference title in their own gym with a win on Saturday against Cameron at 1 p.m. It's the first time Tarleton has the chance to clinch an LSC regular season title at home, as the 2015 and 2017 titles came on the road at Cameron.
 
The TexAnns improve to 25-2 overall and 17-0 in the Lone Star Conference while also running their win streak up to 22 consecutive matches – the longest streak in the nation for NCAA Division II.
 
Tarleton hit .408 in the match, including .433 in the first set and .571 in the second, while holding MSU Texas to a .276 percentage and 19 errors. Amber Strange led all players in kills with 17 on a .364 percentage while Hannah McManus had 13 kills (.550) and Lauren Kersey also had 13 kills (.440). Blanca Izquierdo led all players with 32 assits, while Darthury and Izqueirdo each had 10 digs. Adrianna Knuston had seven digs to lower her magic number to 17 digs to break the program's all-time record.
 
Tarleton and MSU Texas split the first 22 points of the opening set before the TexAnns fired off seven straight points behind kills from McManus, Kersey and Darthuy to regain the lead. Sofia Tonga powered down the final point of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Mustangs took advantage of mistakes by the TexAnns to even the match at 1-1. Tarleton was able to work the set to 20-19 before the Mustangs scored the next three points to pull away.
 
Tarleton regrouped in the third, taking a commanding lead early on at 13-5. A 5-0 run with kills from Kersey, Tonga, Strange and a service ace from Kayla Brannon padded the lead to double digits at 21-10. The defense delivered the set win for the TexAnns, as Tonga and Elizabeth Muliaga blocked a Mustang attack to go up 2-1 in the match.
 
The Mustangs didn't go away quietly as they led 15-12 midway through the set. Tarleton battled back this time, as a 6-1 run put the TexAnns back on top, 21-19, with a kill from McManus followed by Knutson's ace. Tarleton closed the match with authority, as Darthuy started a 4-0 run with a kill, followed by Blanca Izquierdo's service ace and two straight Mustang errors.