ABILENE – A host of Texans achieved season or career milestones in a neutral site contest vs. California Baptist on Friday, but the Lancers stood a hair taller, as Tarleton dropped a tight four-set match in scores of 23-25, 23-25, 29-27 and 21-25.
The Western Athletic Conference affair constituted the debut of crossover play within the West and Southwest Divisions in the league. The WAC announced in January it would split into two divisions, as the additions of former Southland Conference foes Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Housten and Stephen F. Austin swelled the conference to 13 members.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Tarleton (10-11, 2-4 WAC). The Texans conclude their two-day stay in western Texas with a 4 p.m. crossover match with Dixie State (4-11, 3-4) on Saturday.
Despite the defeat, one of the program's all-time great outside hitters added to a resume already worthy of consideration for induction into the Tarleton Sports Hall of Fame. With her 10th of a match-high 15 kills, Lauren Kersey became just the seventh player in school history to reach 1,200 career kills. The senior, who earned All-WAC first team recognition in Tarleton's first season at NCAA Division I this spring, also posted a match-high .368 hitting percentage. Originally from Norman, Oklahoma, Kersey has led Tarleton in kills in eight of its last nine matches.
A pair of fellow Oklahomans and longtime friends teamed up with Kersey to notch individual offensive feats.
Fellow outside hitter Carmen Kinsey landed 14 kills for the afternoon to mark her third outing with 14-or-more kills in Tarleton's last four matches. Kinsey was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 11-17 after she landed a combined 25 kills on a .490 hitting percentage to pace Tarleton to home victories over Prairie View A&M and Abilene Christian.
Not to be outdone was setter Kayla Brannon, who dished out a season-high 48 assists and finished with a career-best 18 digs to record her eighth double-double of the fall.
The trio teamed up to stake the Texans to set victory in a wild third frame that featured 12 ties and saw neither team lead by more than three points following a 14-14 deadlock. Kinsey and Kersey landed six kills each in the frame. Two kills in three plays from Kinsey gave Tarleton a 17-16 edge. Kersey then landed a pair of her own, the last of which came via assist from Brannon and staked Tarleton to a 23-20 advantage. CBU responded with three straight points to knot the score and later set itself up for match point at 26-25. Kinsey and Brannon, though, had an answer. Brannon set Kinsey up at the left pin on the following play to even the score. Tarleton then scored two of the next three points before a serve by Brannon and subsequent assist to Kinsey sent the match to a fourth set.
Three other Texans registered 2021 high points of their own. Senior Amber Strange – one of eight players in school history with 1,000 career kills – tallied a season-high 13 kills, 10 of which came in the match's first two sets. Former ACU Wildcat Lorin McNeil racked up a season-best nine blocks in her return to Teague Special Events Center. McNeil continues to lead the WAC in total blocks for the season with 90. On the back row, defensive specialist Isabel Gonzaba joined Brannon and libero Ana Costas (24 digs) in recording double-digit digs with a season-high 12.
Tarleton fell behind 2-0 on the slimmest of margins. The team erased a six-point deficit in the opening frame to knot the set at 20 apiece and were within a point of CBU at 24-23. The Texans later sat in pole position to claim set two. Tarleton never trailed and were within two points of tying the Lancers at one set apiece at 23-20. CBU scored the final five points in the set to assume control of the match.
The Texans then clawed within two points of CBU at 20-18 in the fourth-and-final set but were limited to just one kill the rest of the way and ultimately dropped the match.
The two teams projected as comparable adversaries. CBU (10-8, 5-3) and Tarleton entered the contest with nearly identical records. Both the set scores and match statistics reflected the billing. CBU finished with a .227-.217 edge in hitting percentage and had 64 assists to the Texans' 55 but Tarleton led in digs (79-76) and blocks (10-7).
A win over the Trailblazers on Saturday sets Tarleton up to bump its record over .500 for the second time this season. The Texans draw Incarnate Word, whom it defeated 3-1 on Sept. 22 in San Antonio, on Tuesday inside Wisdom Gym.
