VOLLEYBALL: Xavier (La.) turns away Rams in the first of two weekend matches

AUSTIN – Huston-Tillotson University's volleyball team returned to Red River Athletic Conference play on Friday as they dropped a hard-fought match to the visiting Gold Nuggets of Xavier (La.).
 
Scores of the match were 25-9, 26-24, and 25-21.
 
At HT's Branch Gymnasium, Chloe Gaytan (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) tallied team highs of nine kills and six digs while Kennedy White (Duncanville, Texas / Duncanville) added seven kills for the Rams. Elaina Spriggins (Dickinson, Texas / Dickinson) handed out 20 assists to her HT teammates.
 
Three different Ram players – Spriggins, Aniyah Asberry (Baton Rouge, La. / Liberty Magnet), and Danelle McCullough (San Antonio, Texas / Wagner) – recorded five digs apiece.
 
Xavier (8-12, 5-2), the third-place team in the RRAC, was led by frontliners Kamea Uitenham and Taylor Parker. Uitenham, a freshman from nearby Hutto, Texas, put away a match-high 13 kills, while Parker chipped in 12 kills against only two errors for a .476 hitting percentage.
 
The Nuggets scored 11 unanswered points help secure a victory in set one, the only set decided by more than four points. Parker and setter Bengisu Kazazlar had two kills apiece during the run, which stretched a four-point Xavier lead to 23-8. Olivia Arroyo served two aces during that span.
 
Sets two and three featured a combined 17 ties and eight lead changes that was all too reminiscent of HT's Wednesday match against Schreiner. The Rams led by as many as five points after a 5-0 run gave them a 16-11 lead. A pair of kills from White and two attack errors from Xavier's Kennedy Campbell contributed to the run.
 
Xavier eventually erased HT's comfortable margin, but the Rams still had the upper hand as the teams kept battling. And just like Wednesday, the Rams had a chance to reach 25 points first and win the set, but three straight Nugget points gave the visitors the set and a 2-0 match lead.
 
The Rams led 10-7 in set three, but a 7-2 run by the Nuggets gave the visitors a 14-12 advantage. HT would tie the score twice and not allow Xavier to get more than four points ahead for the remainder of the set, but the Rams were unable to wrestle the lead away from that point on as Xavier claimed the set and the match sweep.
 
Angelina Munoz (San Antonio, Texas / South San Antonio) knocked down four kills and hit .250 for the Rams, while Spriggins chipped in three kills. McCullough twice recorded kills on digs that sailed over the net and touched the floor before the ball could be successfully played by the Nuggets.
 
Kadyn Smith (Wharton, Texas / Wharton) tallied a kill and two total blocks – one solo, one assisted.
 
The Rams conclude their weekend series with Xavier on Saturday at Branch Gymnasium. First serve is scheduled for noon.

– HT –