Athletic Report
October 26, 1998

VOLLEYBALL (19-8, 7-2 LSC)
A school record crowd of 951 fans watched the Zias take on defending national champion West Texas A&M at Greyhound Arena on Oct. 20. The crowd was the 13th largest outside of NCAA Division I this season.

The Lady Buffs, ranked 10th in NCAA Division II, defeated the Zias, 15-5, 13-15, 15-6, 15-5 to improve to 16-5 overall and 9-0 in the LSC South. ENMU fell to 19-8 overall, 7-2 in the LSC South.

West Texas achieved a .417 attack percentage in the first game on its way to a 15-5 triumph. The Lady Buffs hit 16 kills and committed just 1 kill error.

Eastern controlled the start of the second game. The Zias built a 13-5 lead and appeared headed to any easy win, before WTAMU battled back to tie the game, 13-13. The Zias won the next two points to even the match.

West Texas won the third and fourth games to take a 3-1 victory in the match. In the third game, the Lady Buffs built an 8-1 lead, and the Zias were unable to rally. The fourth game opened with ENMU taking a 4-2 advantage, and the game was tied 5-5 before West Texas scored 10 unanswered points.

Sarah Butler of West Texas, the 1997 NCAA Division II Player-of-the-Year led both teams with 25 kills. She had a .357 attack percentage, and provided 14 digs and 7 total blocks. Jennifer Robinson added 17 kills and 6 blocks for WTAMU. Cory Tixier provided the Lady Buffs with 45 assists and Holly Morgan had 10 kills and 22 digs.

Eastern placed three players in double figures in kills. Irma Cobos (Jr., OH, Kermit, TX/Kermit H.S.) and Charlene Hunt (Sr., OH, Sacramento, CA/Sacramento City College) each recorded 11 kills. Rachael Grant (Jr., MB, Wenatchee, WA/Columbia Basin College) added 10 kills.

Maricela Santos (Jr., MB, Laredo, TX/Laredo C.C.) provided 7 kills and a .238 attack percentage. Junior setter Lindsey Davison (Kelso, WA/Columbia Basin) totaled 40 assists and contributed a team-high 19 digs. Hunt supplied 18 digs, and sophomore defensive specialist Rosemary Brown (Roswell, NM/Roswell H.S.) added 14 digs for the Zias.

GRANT TOPS ZIAS IN TOTAL KILLS
Junior middle blocker Rachael Grant leads the Zias with 302 kills. She is averaging 3.1 kills per game. Heather DesMarais (Jr., RS, Yakima, WA/Columbia Basin) is second with 248 kills (2.8 per game). Other Zias with more than 200 kills are Charlene Hunt with 239, Irma Cobos with 236, and Maricela Santos with 208.

Overall, ENMU has recorded 1,333 kills, an average of 13.6 kills per game. The Zias have a team hitting percentage of .201.

DAVISON CLOSING IN ON ASSIST RECORD
Junior setter Lindsey Davison is moving closer to ENMU’s single season assist record. In 27 matches and 98 games this season, she has earned 1,125 assists, an average of 11.5 assists per game.

Davison is currently 4th on the all-time single season assist chart. She needs just 115 assists to reach Stacey Estlund’s record of 1,240 set in 1997. Along the way, she will pass Estlund in 3rd place at 1,153 assists in 1996 and Brandi Reynolds in 2nd place at 1,176 assists in 1995.

ENMU ON TARGET FOR LSC BERTH
The Zias are on track to earn a Lone Star Conference Tournament berth. ENMU is currently 2nd in the South Division. Three teams in each division will qualify for the LSC Tournament.

Eastern also has a good chance to earn a first round home match in the LSC Tournament. The South runner-up will host the 3rd place team from the North in the first round Nov. 10.

UP NEXT FOR THE ZIAS
Eastern New Mexico concludes its 5-match homestand against Wayland Baptist on Tue., Oct. 27 at Greyhound Arena, at 7:00 p.m. (MST). It is ENMU’s final regular season home match.

The Zias play two Lone Star Conference South Division road matches this weekend, taking on Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas on Fri., Oct. 30 (6:00 p.m. MST) and playing at Mid- western State in Wichita Falls, Texas on Sat., Oct. 31 (1:00 p.m. MST). The Zias conclude their regular season schedule Sat., Nov. 7 at Texas A&M-Kingsville (12:00 noon MST).