BELTON, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' Cowgirl volleyball team won two matches on Friday, defeating No. 24 Southwestern 3-2 and sweeping University of St. Thomas 3-0 in the weekend tournament hosted by UMHB.
Senior Cowgirl setter
Ali Meyer surpassed 1,500 career assists with 22 assists against Southwestern on Friday morning. Meyer added 21 assists against UST to end Friday with a grand total of 1,522 assists.
The Cowgirls came off a tough night out in a 3-2 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor to open ASC play Thursday and bounced back, taking down the No. 24 Southwestern Pirates in five sets early Friday morning.
Hardin-Simmons took the first two sets 25-20 and 25-23 against the Pirates before dropping the third and fourth sets 25-19 and 25-17. The Cowgirls rallied in the fifth set for a 15-8 win in the 3-2 match.
The Cowgirls had big games on offense from
Liz Underwood and
Gabby Jones against the Pirates.
Underwood led with 17 kills and added six services aces. She also tied the team lead with 16 digs for the double-double.
Jones hit 14 kills and served eight aces, one shy of the Cowgirl single-game record. She also had six total blocks.
Abbi Allen led the Cowgirls with seven blocks and
Jadyn Hernandez got in on five blocks in a big defensive showing for HSU.
Meyer got her 1,500
th career assist against Southwestern and had a double-double, tying the Cowgirl lead with 16 digs.
Ari Villanueva had 13 digs against the Pirates and
Keatyn Rodgers had 22 assists to tie Meyer for the team lead.
The Cowgirls cranked up the heat and defeated the St. Thomas Celts in straight sets 25-16, 32-30, and 25-21.
Hardin-Simmons had 53 kills in three sets and hit .257 for the match, including hitting .395 in the final set to finish off the Celts.
Underwood finished the second game of the day with 13 kills to lead HSU.
Leigh Jespersen hit 11 kills, and Allen went for 10 kills against the Celts.
Allen also led the Cowgirls with six blocks, while Jones and Hernandez added four blocks each.
Meyer led with 21 assists and Rodgers assisted 20 times for Hardin-Simmons in game two.
Jespersen and Meyer each had a double-double with digs, Jespersen leading with 14 digs and Meyer having 11 digs.
Kat Martinez had 11 digs against UST as well for the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls improve to 7-3 after Friday's action and will play again in Belton on Saturday against University of Dallas at 11:30 a.m.
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