PORTALES, N.M. (October 4, 2024) – Lubbock Christian University powered through Eastern New Mexico in straight sets (25-18, 25-13, 25-23) Friday night at Steve Loy Family Foundation Arena (Greyhound Arena), securing their second consecutive Lone Star Conference road victory.
 
The victory moved the Lady Chaps' record to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in LSC play. Payton Murray finished with 14 kills on the day to lead the Lady Chaps offense, while finishing with a hitting percentage of .407. The Lady Chaps received 14 digs from Abby Benitez to lead them defensively.
 
Game Notes
» A birthday gift indeed, as the winning coach of the match: LCU's head coach Keith Giboney, who was celebrating his birthday Friday.
 
» Leddy Rae Guinn had a match-high four aces in the win. The mark matches a career high and it matches Lily Bickley for the most aces this season in a match. Each have completed the task twice and each have a four-ace performance in a three-set match on the season.

» Payton Murray had a match-high 14 kills for Lubbock Christian. Murray has double-figure kill production in consecutive games and for a third time over a four-match span. She has 31 kills over her last seven sets played (4.4 per set) and has led LCU in kills for a second consecutive match.

» Lubbock Christian got a match-high 14 digs from Abby Benitez. It was her sixth performance of the season with at least 10 digs.

» Lubbock Christian attackers were helped by a match-high 37 assists from Kayton Genenbacher. She is averaging over 12.25 assists per set over the last four matches.

» ENMU received 11 kills from Sophia Valdez. They fell to 3-11 overall and 0-3 in LSC play. The Greyhounds were playing their first match with Natalia Burdulis serving as the interim head coach, as Thursday, Sia Poyer announced he was stepping away from the head coaching duties (citing health concerns).
 
» The Lady Chaps' victory marks their eighth win in the last 10 meetings with Eastern New Mexico, narrowing the all-time series margin to 34-32 in favor of the Greyhounds. It ended a streak of five consecutive four-set matches, with the last 3-0 decision between the teams occurring in 2018 at a neutral site in Canyon, Texas. LCU also improved their record in Portales to 10-19, securing their first straight-set win there since Oct. 1, 2013.
 
» The Lady Chaps are now 2-4 this season in true road matches.
 
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Lady Chaps jumped out to an early lead, methodically winning the first set 25-18. Lubbock Christian never trailed by more than five points and grabbed the advantage for good at 9-8 in a set that showcased two lead changes before the Lady Chaps claimed the set by breaking an 18-18 tie with a 7-0 run to claim the set 25-18.  Lubbock Christian also supplemented their offense with three aces in the opening set (the final point was tallied via a serving ace from Guinn). The Lady Chaps got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Eastern New Mexico attacks in the stanza.
 
SET 2 | Lubbock Christian carried momentum from a set-one win by earning a 25-13 victory in set number two. The Lady Chaps grabbed control of the set lead early on at 4-3 and never trailed, riding a 12-3 scoring surge. Lubbock Christian led by as many as 12 points at 22-10 before closing out the set. The Lubbock Christian offense also got a boost from four aces in the stanza (Guinn and Olivia Elofsson each had two).
 
SET 3 | Lubbock Christian then ended the match with a victory in set number three. The Lady Chaps persevered in a back-and-forth set to win 25-23 in a stanza that featured three lead changes and it was tied eight times. Neither team opened up a lead of more than four points along the way. The Lady Chaps racked up 18 kills over the course of the set, as Murray (8) and Bickley (5) combined for 13 of LCU's 18 kills in the set.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The road show continues Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT), as LCU travels to Canyon, Texas. to face No.9 West Texas A&M in an LSC contest inside WTAMU Fieldhouse.