LUBBOCK, Texas (October 15, 2015) –
Emily Hanaway notched a career-high 18 kills and
Maddie Johnson recorded her seventh double-double on the season with 15 kills and 12 digs as Lubbock Christian University came back from a first set loss to win in four (24-26, 25-16, 25-15, 25-17) over St. Mary's Thursday night inside the Rip Griffin Center.
Set one was a tight battle throughout, with neither team mustering more than a two-point advantage. A
Christiana Tavo kill up the middle moved the Lady Chaps (11-7, 6-3 Heartland) in front at 11-9, but the Rattlers (3-15, 1-8 Heartland) quickly came back for the tie. LCU again moved ahead, 15-13, on an StMU ball handling error, but the Rattlers gained their first lead of the night at 18-17 on a Megan Isbell kill. A Johnson kill put the Lady Chaps up at 22-20, but a trio of StMU points stole the advantage back. A Rattler attack error put LCU at set point, but St. Mary's responded with three straight kills to take the set.
The Lady Chaps were more dominant in set two, running out to a 7-2 advantage. A kill by StMU's Allison Rose closed the gap to 9-7, but LCU added another four points to jump ahead, 13-9. A 7-0 Lady Chap run extended the lead to 21-11 before the team took the win to knot the match at one set apiece. The third set also went LCU's way early, as the Lady Chaps rung up a 12-3 lead. Kills by
Mallory Powell, Johnson and
Ariel Froeschl lengthened the advantage to 21-12 before LCU finished off the Rattlers on another Johnson kill.
St. Mary's fought closely in set four, tying things up at 8-all on a kill by Tarine Grace. Tavo sparked a spurt with a block alongside Froeschl and a kill to put the Lady Chaps up 14-10. A kill by Johnson and a pair of StMU attack errors increased the lead to 19-11. Final attacks by Hanaway and Tavo gave the Lady Chaps the match victory to award LCU their sixth win all-time in 16 attempts versus St. Mary's.
For LCU, Powell handed out a game-high 42 assists and
Kelsie French tallied a game-best 30 digs.
For StMU, Grace had a team-high 11 kills.
