LAFAYETTE, La. – Tarleton State Volleyball reverse swept Texas Southern to finish 2-1 in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic at Earl K. Long Gym. The Texans fought hard in a five-set match (22-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19, and 15-6) to ultimately result in their second win of the weekend, 3-2.
With the pair of victories this weekend, the Texans start the season, 2-1. The Tigers (0-3) dropped all three matches to open the season.
"I'm proud of the fight we showed today," said head coach Jazymne Johnson. "This weekend showed us where we still need to improve on and how we can grow as a team. Overall, we are very pleased with the weekend."
LaNeah Lara topped her career high match from each of the past two matches notching 13 kills. Madison Rice-Lockett and Madison Frank also add double-digit kill totals. Rice-Lockett recorded 12 while Frank posted 11. Emma Burke posted a match-best seven blocks to fuel the Texan defensive efforts.
Setters, Megan Hodges and Teya Nyguyen, helped set this Texan offense up for success with 42 assists to attribute to the 54 kills produced by Tarleton State. Hodges led the way totaling 24 helpers. Morgan Carter also attributed to the momentum of the Texan offensive strike with 14 digs and 8 assists.
The Texans notched 12 service aces, their most in a match since Sept. 16, 2023 against UMES. The Purple and White led the battle of assists, 51-45 and blocks, 10-9. The Tigers out-dug the Purple and White, 59-51.
Tarleton State battled through a tightly contested opening set against Texas Southern but ultimately fell, 25–22. Emma Burke and Rice-Locket led the attack early, combining for key kills that kept the set neck-and-neck, while setter Hodges consistently distributed the offense. The Texans opened trading points back and forth between The Tigers with points from Burke and Taylynn Biggs helping maintain the margin. The Purple and White continued to battle down the stretch with kills from Lara and Burke but eventually came up short.
During set two, the Texans opened up slow but gained momentum quickly with big kills from Frank to help bridge the deficit and put the Texans in the match. Midway through the set, points were consistently traded back and forth but the Texans fell short, 25-22.
The Texans opened the third stanza with a kill from Rice-Lockett which flipped the momentum toward Tarleton State. Lara and Frank tallied kills early on to help the Texans pull ahead. The Purple and white dominated the set but especially in the last ten points. Leading, 17-14, the Texans burst on a 8-2 run to ultimately take the set, 25-26. Kills from Frank and Rice-Lockett put the exclamation point on the end of the set and sent the match to a fourth set.
Set four was monumental for the Texans as a four-point score run helped tie the match at two. Hard fought points from Breannah Peterson and Rice-Lockett down the stretch set the Texans over allowing for the run. Efforts from Frank and Lara at the attack line increased the energy of the Texans scoring efforts. In the end, the Texans came out of this set on top keeping them alive for the final set of the match.
The Texans opened the fifth set strong with another four-point run to help them quickly close the fifth set and come out of the match victorious. The Texans answered a Tigers kill, with another four-point run to put them just another four points away from victory. The last and hard-fought points were delivered by Rice-Lockett and Burke to close the match and end the Texans run at the Sawyer-Camillo Memorial Classic with a victory.
The Texans will return home to Wisdom Gym on Thursday, September 4th to open the Tarleton State Invitational where they are set to face New Mexico as part of Purple Rally Night at 7 p.m.
