VOLLEYBALL: Our Lady of the Lake defeats Rams in four sets

AUSTIN – The only thing lacking from a perfect Senior Night for Huston-Tillotson University's volleyball team Friday was a victory as Our Lady of the Lake defeated the Rams in four sets.
 
Scores of the match were 22-25, 25-18, 25-7, and 25-18.
 
Despite the setback, Huston-Tillotson's four senior players – Cameron Boyd, Danelle McCullough, Elaina Spriggins, and Kennedy White – were given a great match-day environment in front of an enthusiastic crowd filled with students, friends, and family for their final home match. The Rams in turn, gave their fans a solid performance against one of the Red River Athletic Conference's premier teams.
 
At HT's Branch Gymnasium, White put away 10 kills for the Rams, while Spriggins tallied 27 assists and seven digs. McCullough surpassed 700 career digs with a 12-dig showing against the visiting Saints.
 
The Ram seniors were able to share the spotlight with their teammates Friday, as Chloe Gaytan recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Olivia De La Cruz knocked down eight kills with only two errors for a .333 hitting percentage, while fellow freshman Aniyah Asberry registered 10 digs.
 
Camila Ramirez led Our Lady of the Lake (15-7, 8-1 RRAC) with 17 kills and a .353 hitting percentage. Mia Francis hit .370 en route to a 13-kill performance for the Saints.
 
In HT's set-one victory, the Rams may have had one of their best single-set performances of the season. HT players hit .464 in the opening set, knocking down 14 kills with only one attack error in 28 attempts.
 
In a match that featured 16 ties and eight lead changes, set one 14 of those ties and seven of those lead changes occurred in set one. A 5-1 HT midway through the set gave the Rams a 13-10 lead and forced OLLU to call a timeout.
 
The Saints regrouped after the timeout, scoring six of the next seven points to reclaim a 16-14 lead. The Rams then responded by scoring four of the next five, fueled by kills from Gaytan and Spriggins, as well as aces from Boyd and Gaytan.
 
The two teams battled back-and-forth until the end of the set, which ended with the Rams scoring the last four points. A kill from De La Cruz tied the set at 22-22, which was then followed by an uncharacteristic three consecutive attack errors by the Saints, giving the Rams a 25-22 set one victory.
 
HT's set one win awakened the proverbial sleeping giant in Our Lady of the Lake, who jumped out to a 13-5 lead in set two. The Rams then scored six unanswered points of their own, which included two kills from Angelina Munoz. HT stayed close to their visitors until the Saints ended the set with six consecutive points.
 
Troubles continued in set three for the Rams and HT as the Saints jumped out to a 6-0 lead. A run of nine consecutive OLLU points late in the set gave the Saints a 24-6 lead.
 
Meanwhile, HT's enthusiastic match-day atmosphere was further silenced when the Branch Gymnasium sound system experienced difficulties, muting Branch Gymnasium public address announcer Alan Wiederhold-Sohn. It ended up that the Saints had their best set during the quietest set of the match. (Wiederhold, who is HT's sports information director, did say after the match he highly doubted the sound system's difficulties changed the outcome of the set in a significant way.)
 
The Rams were forced to play catch-up in set four after ceding eight of the first 10 points to OLLU. HT later climbed back into the set with a 5-0 run that cut OLLU's lead to 10-9; the run was sparked by three kills from Gaytan. HT stayed close until a late 7-1 OLLU gave the Saints a 22-13 lead, a comfortable margin to close out the set and the match.
 
Munoz tallied five kills and handed out eight assists for the Rams.
 
The Rams return to action Saturday, Oct. 19, when they conclude their home-and-home series with Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio. First serve is scheduled for noon at OLLU's Mabee Gymnasium.

– HT –