Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 STEPHENVILLE – No. 10 Tarleton picked up a pair of wins to open the season in the Texan Invitational on Friday in Wisdom Gym.
 
The Texans (2-0) took down No. 19 Cal State-Los Angeles in the season opener, 3-2, and followed with a sweep of West Alabama in the nightcap. Both opponents made the NCAA Division II Regional tournament last season.
   
The Texans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the match with 25-21 wins in set one and two. In the first set, Tarleton and CSU-LA exchanged blows with neither team leading by more than two points, resulting in a 21-21 tie down the stretch. Lauren Kersey, who had a team-leading 13 kills in the match, followed with a kill to give the Texans a 22-21 lead that started a 4-0 run to close out the opening set. Emma Halcomb served the final three points, including an ace for the 24^th point.
 
In the second set, the Texans used an 8-2 run to jump out to a 16-12 advantage behind a pair of kills from Kersey and Charlotte Bradshaw. After the Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 16-15, the Texans went on a 5-2 run to go up 21-17. Leading 21-20, Tatyana Tuialii-Umi's kill gave the Texans the momentum once again to close the set on a 4-1 run with Halcomb's ace clinching the set for a 2-0 match lead.
 
CSU-LA won the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-10, to even the match at 2-2 and force a final set.
 
The Golden Eagles took a 10-7 lead in the fifth set before head coach Mary Schindler took a timeout. The reigning AVCA regional coach of the year got the Texans back in check with an 8-2 run to close out the match. Kayla Brannon had a service ace during the run, while Carmen Kinsey and Adriana Darthuy had kills at the net to push the Texans to victory.
 
Carmen Kinsey, Charlotte Bradshaw and Tatyana Tuialii-Umi each had seven kills in the opening match. Kayla Brannon (19) and Amari Franklin (12) led the team in assists. Defensively, Michaela Rodriguez posted a game-high 16 digs and Sofia Tonga recorded a game-high five blocks.
   
For the second straight match, the Texans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match. Only this time, they didn't let the lead slip away as they took care of West Alabama in three sets for the first sweep of the year.
 
Lauren Kersey led the way once again with double-digit kills, this time posting 11 kills, giving the sophomore 24 in the two matches. Amari Franklin recorded her first double-double as a Texan, posting 14 assists with 10 digs. Tatyana Tuialii-Umi registered her first double-digit kill game of the season with 10 while Carmen Kinsey added seven kills. Kayla Brannon paced the offense with 18 assists and Michaela Rodriguez led the defense with 21 digs.
 
It didn't take long for Tarleton to jump out to a double-digit lead in the set as the Texans led 17-7 early on. The Texans used a 15-3 run after West Alabama led 4-2 to take the commanding lead. After a small run by the Tigers, Sofia Tonga switched the momentum back to the home side with a kill and the Texans would close on a 5-2 push.
 
Tarleton led 11-9 midway through the second set before the Texans pushed ahead with a 13-3 run to go up 23-12. Tatyana Tuialii-Umi had back-to-back aces while Amber Strange delivered a kill and a block at the net to start the run. The Tigers made a run of their own late, a 5-0 stretch, but Charlotte Bradshaw blocked an attack to stop the run and push the Texans to set point and eventually take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Texans and Tigers split the first 20 points of the third set before Sofia Tonga countered with a block and kill to put the Texans up for good. Lauren Kersey had three kills over the next four Texan points for a 19-14 lead. Carmen Kinsey, Amber Strange and Tuialii-Umi closed the match out with three straight kills to give Tarleton the victory.
 
Tarleton will close out the Texan Invitational with a pair of ranked matches on Saturday. The Texans will face No. 14 Rockhurst at 11:30 a.m. and No. 2 Cal State- San Bernardino at 4:30 p.m.