Athletic Report
October 12, 1999

WEST TEXAS A&M REMAINS UNDEFEATED WITH WIN OVER EASTERN NEW MEXICO
Largest NCAA Division II Crowd of Season Watches in Portales
PORTALES, NM — The West Texas A&M University volleyball team, ranked #3 in NCAA Division II, improved to 22-0 on the season and 7-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division with a 15-13, 15-8, 15-9 victory over Eastern New Mexico University. With the loss, ENMU fell to 17-6 overall and 5-2 in the LSC South.

The crowd of 1,703 at Greyhound Arena in Portales, New Mexico was the largest crowd at an NCAA Division II volleyball match so far this season. The previous high this year in NCAA Division II was 1,688 fans who watched the nation’s top two teams, BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 25. Eastern’s crowd tonight (Oct. 12) nearly doubled last year’s home crowd of 951 for the ENMU vs. West Texas A&M match.

ENMU, bolstered by the large crowd, quickly took an 8-1 lead in the opening game. West Texas also trailed 8-4 and 10-6, before rallying to tie the game, 10-10. The Lady Buffs scored 7 straight overall to take a 13-10 lead.

ENMU tied the game at 13-13 on two kills by Maricela Santos (Sr., MB, Laredo, TX/Laredo C.C.), but West Texas scored the next two points for a 15-13 win. The Zias committed 12 hitting errors in the first game, which offset Eastern’s early lead.

West Texas also benefited from the play of senior outside hitter Sarah Butler (Amarillo, TX/U. of Texas). The two-time All-America selection recorded 6 of her match-high 14 kills in the first game. In the second game, West Texas started quickly (4-0 lead), but ENMU rallied to create an 8-8 tie. The Lady Buffs countered by scoring the final seven points of the game to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

WTAMU used a 10-0 run in the third game to keep Eastern from forcing Game #4. The game was tied, 2-2, when West Texas, aided by solid hitting, quickly moved out to a 12-2 advantage. The Zias blocked a pair of West Texas kill attempts to fuel a comeback that cut the deficit to 12-6, but ENMU never got closer the rest of the way.

West Texas was led by Butler’s solid performance. The Lady Buffs also received 8 kills and 17 digs from Shannon Stroud (Fr., OH, Amarillo, TX/Amarillo H.S.). Setter Lauren Nichols (Fr., Houston, TX/Westfield H.S.) added 29 assists and provided 16 digs. The Lady Buffs registered 68 digs overall, while ENMU recorded 51 digs.

Christabell Mariner (Fr., Pago Pago, Amer. Samoa/Tafuna H.S.) was Eastern’s offensive leader with 10 kills. She also had 4 block assists. Junior outside hitter Tanya Heyko (Salem, OR/Chemeketa H.S.) contributed 13 digs and senior setter Lindsey Davison (Kelso, WA/ Columbia Basin College) provided 24 assists. Santos had 8 kills and 6 total blocks for the Zias.

ENMU plays at Abilene Christian University on Friday (Oct. 15, 6:00 p.m. MDT) and at Angelo State University on Saturday (Oct. 16, 1:00 p.m. MDT). The pair of LSC South Division games will be followed by ENMU’s next home match on Mon., Oct. 18 at Greyhound Arena at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).