Zias Defeat St. Mary's, 3-1, at St. Edward's
Five Players Reach Double Figures in Digs

AUSTIN, TX – Eastern New Mexico University opened the St. Edward’s Powerade Challenge with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary’s University (Texas), on Friday, Sept. 27 in Austin, Texas. The Zias won the match, 30-23, 28-30, 30-19, 30-27, to improve to 12-4 on the season. St. Mary’s dropped to 7-6 overall.

The tournament, hosted by St. Edward’s University, is scheduled to continue on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Zias will take on the University of the Incarnate Word at 1 p.m. (MST) before meeting St. Edward’s at 5 p.m. (MST).

Against St. Mary’s, the Zias placed five players in double figures for digs, led by senior April Brockmann (OH/MB, Tempe, AZ/Chandler-Gilbert CC), who recorded 19 digs. Courtney Wallenborn (Sr., RS, Camas, WA/Mt. Hood CC) added 17 digs, and Anya Mack (Jr., OH/RS, Cope, CO/Sheridan JC) supplied 15 digs. Setter Margie Goble (Jr., San Antonio, TX/Holmes HS) earned 11 digs, and middle blocker Christabell Mariner (Sr., Pago Pago, American Samoa/Tafuna HS) achieved 10 digs. The Zias made 81 digs overall.

Brockmann also led the Zias with 16 kills, while Mariner provided 15 kills and Mack chipped in 14 kills. Goble produced six kills and just one error on 12 attacks (.417 hitting percentage), while supplying 47 assists. ENMU finished the match with 62 kills and 81 digs. The Zias earned a .203 team hitting percentage.

St. Mary’s hit just .084 during the match. Even so, Yasmin Elkhatib recorded 13 kills, with Breann Alexander achieving 11 kills and Megan Duma contributing 10 kills. Pam Salinas topped the defensive statistics for the Lady Rattlers with 19 digs. Alexander earned 16 digs, Ashley Bird provided 12 digs and Erika Bolk added 10 digs.