COMMERCE, Texas – The Tarleton State volleyball program fell in a pair of matches against Central Arkansas and Arkansas-Little Rock to open the Lion Invitational and the 2024 season on Friday at The Field House.
The Texans dropped the opening match in three sets to Central Arkansas (16-25, 15-25, 13-25) before falling in a five-set battle to Arkansas-Little Rock (25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 25-21, 10-15) in the afternoon. Tarleton State opens the season and Lion Invitational, 0-2.
Allison Bryant led the way with 27 kills across the pair of matches.
Megan Hodges had a record-setting day posting 65 assists including a new career-high 48 against Little Rock.
Match 1
Bryant led the Texans with 10 kills in the first match of the day. Setter Hodges tallied 17 assists.
Emma Halcomb recorded a game-high 12 digs in her return to indoor volleyball.
The Texans struggled out of the gate against the Sugar Bears. Central Arkansas never trailed and took the first set victory, 25-16.
Madison Frank led the team with three kills in the first stanza. Hodges tallied five assists, and
Yuna Ansquer notched four. The libero, Halcomb, led the way with six digs.
In Set 2, the Purple and White came out on fire. After starting 1-1, a kill by Bryant and an ace by
Tatum Busch gave the Texans their first lead of the morning. Leading 6-3, the Texans strung together four-straight points capped by back-to-back kills by Frank. The Sugar Bears countered with a 10-1 run to regain the lead. Central Arkansas didn't look back stringing together a 22-5 run to close out set two, 25-15. Bryant notched four kills in the second frame to lead the Texans.
The Texans contested early in the third stanza. The first eight total points resulted in four ties in a true back-and-forth affair. Central Arkansas notched a 5-4 lead and it was all Sugar Bears for the remainder of the set. The Sugar Bears closed out the match with a 25-13 victory in the third frame. Once again, Bryant racked up four kills in the set for 10 total in the three-set match.
Match 2
For the second straight match, Bryant led the Texans with 17 kills. Four Texans registered double-digit kill totals also including
Tatum Busch (11), Burke (10) and Frank (10).
Hodges posted a career high 48 assists, surpassing her previous best of 43 in 2022.
Addison Goss led the Purple and White with 22 digs, one of four Texans to most double-digit dig totals. Halcomb's two aces tied for a game best and added 18 digs.
The Texans notched their first set victory of the year in the first stanza against the Trojans. Tarleton started off battling point-for-point where they found themselves in a hole, 4-3. The Texans took control of the set running off the next five points to force a Trojan timeout. The Texans 9-1 run to break ahead, 12-5. During that span,
Carly Lange notched back-to-back aces and Bryant tallied a pair of consecutive kills. Tarleton never led by less than four the remainder of the frame, taking the first, 25-19.
The Trojans evened the match with a 25-22 close-fought victory. The Texans led 4-2 before falling victim to a four-point Little Rock stretch. Tarleton responded with a three-point string of its own to regain the lead, 7-6. After four ties, the score was deadlocked at 11. Little Rock used a 5-0 run to distance themselves with the Texans. Tarleton would cut its deficit within one seven times but was never able to tie or retake the lead. With the Trojans leading 21-20, Little Rock notched four of the final five points to take the second set, 25-22.
In the third frame, Little Rock used a 7-1 run to break out to an early 10-4 lead. The Texans cut into the deficit with back-to-back blocks by Bryant and Burke to make it an 11-7 advantage for the Trojans. The two teams traded points before Little Rock ended the set on a 5-0 run to take a 25-16 victory.
The Texans responded loudly in the fourth stanza opening with the first five points. Bryant contributed two kills in the five-point run. The Trojans responded with a 5-1 run to close the Texan lead to 6-5. The two squads swapped points ultimately tying for the first time in the frame at 8. The score tied three more times before the Texans took the lead for the final time after a pair of Trojan attack errors, 12-10. Tarleton distanced themselves from the Trojans with a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. Tarleton closed the set on an ace by Bryant to send the match to a fifth set, 25-21.
The fifth set did not favor the Texans, with the Trojans leading for the entirety of the frame. Little Rock broke a 3-3 tie with a kill and didn't look back. The Trojans earned three straight points to take a 6-3 advantage. The Texans cut their deficit to two, 8-6, but never was able to draw any closer. The Trojans finished out the frame to close the match with a 15-10 victory and earn their second win of the Lion Invitational.
Little Rock led Tarleton in kills, 66-55. The Trojans also held the advantage in aces (7-6), blocks (8-6), and assists (63-53). The Texans led UALR 94-92 in digs.
Tarleton will close out the Lion Invitational against the host school, Texas A&M-Commerce. The Texans' final match of the weekend is set for 3 p.m. at the Field House.
