STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Volleyball kicked off their 2023 campaign against Prairie View A&M and Northern Arizona Friday Night at Wisdom Volleyball Gym in Stephenville, Texas. In their hard-fought battle against the Panthers, the Texans came up short in five sets. The Purple and White went on to play the Lumberjacks and fell 3-1.
PVAMU 3 TARLETON 2
The Texan Invitational began with a matchup between the Panthers of PVAMU and Tarleton State. The Purple and White started off strong, winning the first set 25-15 and then claiming the second set 25-17. The Texans went five sets with the Panthers but fell short in the last three sets. In set three, the Texans finished 21-25. Prairie View A&M took set four 25-23 and finished out the match 17-15.
In the first match, newcomer
Allison Bryant and
Emma Burke racked up 15 kills each, accompanied closely by
Grayson Schirpik who totaled 14 kills to contribute to the team total of 60 kills. Junior
Matti Theurer led the team with 20 digs averaging 4.00 digs per set to kick start the season. Another key player for the Texans in day one was
Megan Hodges who notched her first double-double of the year. She led the Texans with 30 assists and added 12 digs.
NAU 3 TARLETON 1
The Texans played their final match of day one against the Lumberjacks and fell 3-1. Tarleton State Volleyball started off the match strong by taking set one 25-20 but NAU battled back in the remaining three sets. The Lumberjacks took set two 25-18. In the third set the Texans fell 19-25 and NAU finished out the night 25-17 in set four.
In match two of the day, Bryant turned up the heat, 13 more kills to the box score. Also pulling weight for the Texans, Hodges recorded her second double-double of the day with another 21 assists and 10 digs. Freshman setter
Charlize Ching racked up nine assists for the match.
Tarleton State Volleyball will return to Wisdom Volleyball Gym Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to take the court against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lions. Following their first match, the Texans will go head-to-head with the Cardinals from Incarnate Word at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up the Texan Invitational. Immediately following the game, Tarleton State Volleyball will autograph posters for fans.
