SEATTLE – The Purple and White claim their first road victory of conference play against the Redhawks in five sets.
In the first two sets, the home team came out strong, taking the sets 25-23 and 25-20. Set three was all Tarleton State with a 25-7 final. The fourth and fifth frames ended 25-20 and 15-7 in favor of the Purple and White.
Tarleton State is now 13-12 overall and 4-7 in conference after the win over Seattle U.
Rajini Fitzmaurice saw a new season-high in kills (22) and points (23) in the match against the Redhawks.
Grayson Schirpik tallied 15 kills and
Emma Burke contributed 11 for the Texans.
Melina Maldonado Ortiz compiled three aces for a new season high.
Matti Theurer and
Megan Hodges also tallied three aces for Tarleton State.
Hodges compiled 36 assists on the night for her second highest match of the season and Maldonado Ortiz compiled 18 assists. Burke led the defense with six blocks on the evening while
Mary Kate Stasevich contributed four and
Breanna McDonough tallied three. Theurer led Tarleton State with 19 digs. Hodges tallied 12 digs for the Texans and Fitzmaurice finished with nine.
In the opening stanza, the Texans were up 2-0 to kickstart the set. A three-run score from the home team saw Tarleton State down by one but back-to-back kills from Fitzmaurice gave the lead back to the Purple and White at 5-4. A four-score run from the Texans made for a four-point deficit for Seattle U. The Redhawks battled back and saw a tie breaking kill from Merima Smajovic. Tarleton State retied the set with a kill from Schirpik at point 23 but back-to-back kills from the home team claimed the set at 25-23.
The second frame saw Tarleton State to the board first, but the Redhawks replied with a kill to even the score. After a kill from Maldonado Ortiz, the Texans saw a 5-2 lead. A kill from the home team took the lead for the Redhawks to see the Purple and White down by three at 17-14. From there, Seattle U led for the remainder of the stanza. Fitzmaurice tallied the final point for Tarleton State but a kill from Naima Foster took the set for the Redhawks, 25-20.
Fitzmaurice took the first point for the Texans to start off the third set. A kill from Schirpik broke the tie at point three and began a six-score run for Tarleton State to see a 9-3 score. A kill from Arianna Bilby tallied point five for the home team but the Purple and White replied with eight consecutive points to see Seattle U down by 14. After another five-score run from the Texans, Tatum Chase claimed the last point for the Redhawks with a kill, but Burke tallied the set point to close out the stanza, 25-7.
The fourth set began with a kill from Fitzmaurice to see the first point of the frame in favor of Tarleton. The home team was first to point four and led for the next nine points. A kill from Morrison claimed point 15 for the Purple and White but the next three went to Seattle U to see the visitors down by two. Burke laid down a kill to take the lead for the Texans. Bilby replied with a kill for the Redhawks but Tarleton State stole the next five points to force a fifth set and see a 25-20 final in the fourth frame.
In the final set, Seattle U saw a kill from Foster for the first point on the board. Three consecutive points from the Purple and White saw the Texans ahead, 3-1. The home team laid down another kill, but a four-score run from Tarleton State gave the visitors a five-point lead. The Purple and White led the remainder of the set and two kills from Burke tallied the final points for the Tarleton State at 15-7.
Tarleton Volleyball will continue their time on the road with a trip to Utah Valley on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The match between the Wolverines and the Texans can be found on ESPN+.
