LAFAYETTE, La. — Tarleton State Volleyball head coach Jazymne Johnson earned her first win in her debut as head coach as the Texans opened their season with a sweep of New Orleans in the first match of the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic on Friday afternoon at Earl K. Long Gym.
The Texans needed just three sets to record their first victory of the season, 25-19, 25-17, 25-14. The Purple and White registered its first season-opening victory since 2022 and their first sweep in the season opener since 2020. Tarleton State opens the 2025 season 1-0 and handed New Orleans their first loss of the season to start off, 0-1. The Privateers were 2-26 last season and have lost their last 22 matches dating back to Sept. 15 of last season.
Johnson notched her first win of her collegiate head coaching career in the opener. The first-year head coach returned to Louisiana to open her head coaching career after recently serving as on the Ragin' Cajuns staff from 2021 to 2024. Johnson was hired as the 19th head coach in Texan Volleyball program history on Dec. 17, 2024.
"I was very pleased and happy with our offense," said Johnson. "We were able to hit .408 on the match with six players getting double digit attempts, which is really good. Both setters did a really good job distributing the ball. Morgan Carter did a great job for us defensively as well. I'm excited to see how we can build off of this win and take it into tomorrow."
For just the fourth time in program history, and the first time since Nov. 13, 2021, the Texans recorded at least a .400 attack percentage. The Purple and White hit .408 in the match, the second highest in the Division I era. The Texans posted a D1 era best, .446 percentage on Oct. 14, 2021 against Prairie View A&M.
LaNeah Lara led the Purple and White with a career-high 12 kills while hitting .478. Lara was the only Texan to tally double-digit kills in the three-set match. The junior also added a block and four digs.
Teya Nguyen recorded her first double-double of the season and the third of her career with 18 assists and 11 digs. The San Jose State transfer recorded a pair of double-doubles as a freshman during the 2023 season with the Spartans. Nguyen split the duties as setter with senior Megan Hodges who also tallied 18.
Morgan Carter posted a match-high three service aces. The redshirt senior tied her career high she had recorded twice prior as a freshman at South Carolina. She also posted a match-high 13 digs, while being one of two Texans in the entire match to tally at least 10 digs.
The Texans opened the set trading points back-and-forth with the Privateers. With the match tied at 16, the Texans scored back-to-back points courtesy of a kill by Lara and a Nguyen service ace to take an 18-16 lead. Leading 19-17, the Texans used a three-point run to take their largest lead of the set, 22-17. A kill by Madison Rice-Locket and an ace by Victoria Fontenot aided the Texan run. Breannah Peterson finalized the set with a kill making the score 25-19.
Emma Burke opened set two with a kill off an assist from Hodges. Tied at three, the Texans distanced themselves with a 7-1 run to break out to a 10-4 advantage. During the run, Lara, Taylyn Biggs, Nguyen, Madison Frank and Rice-Lockett each recorded a kill. After a Privateers point, the Texans ran four in a row to open up to a nine-point lead, their largest of the set. Biggs added a pair of kills to fuel the Purple and White burst. Later in the stanza, New Orleans tightened the Texan lead to 19-15 with four consecutive points. After a Tarleton State timeout, the Texans closed the second set on a 6-2 run to take the second set, 25-17.
In the third set, the Texans dropped the first point before taking the lead with three straight points. The two squads traded points early on in the set. The Texans used another 3-0 run to regain the lead for the final time, 9-7. The Privateers battled back but were never able to tie the set back up. With a one-point lead, 15-14, the Texans rattled off 10 consecutive points to take the third and final set to complete the sweep. Carter recorded three straight aces to help add the Texans offensive attack during the run. Six of Lara's 12 kills came in the third and final set.
The Texans led the way with 47 kills, to New Orleans' 35. The Purple and White totaled six aces while allowing just one by UNO. The Texans also led in assists, 45-29 and digs, 47-37.
Tarleton State will be back in action on Saturday in the second day of the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic. The Texans will take on the host school, Louisiana at 2 p.m. at Earl K. Long Gym.
