In front of 165 fans the women’s volleyball team came back from two games behind to defeat the Dallas Baptist Patriots in a five-game match held at the gym on Saturday afternoon.
TAMIU won 24-30, 27-30, 30-27, 30-24, and 15-13 to tie the Heartland Conference series at 1-1.
This is the second loss for the Patriots in the conference.
Patriot sophomore Amanda Emmert led her team to win the first two games of the match. However, TAMIU’s defense held, and its offense attacked aggressively in the third game and leveled the score 2-2, resulting in a decisive fifth game.
Two consecutive killings by TAMIU junior Ladys Montano helped secure the victory. Also, junior Nicole Gipson contributed three kills and two important blocks in the deciding game.
Blocking played a key role in the match; TAMIU had 23.5 blocks to Dallas Baptist’s 14.
Gipson had 15 kills while Montano completed 13 kills along with 19 digs. Junior Brittany Smith helped her team with 10 kills and nine blocks while senior Mary Koch contributed 43 assists.
On the Dallas Baptist side Emmert had 17 kills and 11 digs, and her sophomore teammate Vickie Mundell finished with 51 assists.
The win energized the Lady Dustdevils, who came off a seven-game losing streak.
“I think the girls played very well,” said TAMIU women’s volleyball coach Wendy McManus. “We finally started communicating, and by doing that, we gained the confidence to get that first win and get the monkey of our back.”
Gipson also stressed the role communication played in Saturday’s victory.
“We worked together as a team; it was all about talking, going for everything and we worked really, really hard to get sizzling today.”
However, the hard work has just begun.
“It’s all uphill from here,” McManus said. “It’s always an ongoing process since new things come up as soon as they master one.”