PORTALES, New Mexico - The No. 10 Angelo State volleyball team fell in five (20-25, 27-25, 25-13, 27-25, 9-15) to Eastern New Mexico on the road Friday night.
The Belles dropped to 27-3 overall and 17-2 in the Lone Star Conference with the loss. The Belles defense out blocked the Greyhounds 15-9 while the ASU attack hit a season low .162 clip for the match. ENMU improved to 18-11, 13-6 LSC with Friday's win.
Mallory Blauser and Tulani Titley led the Belles attack for the match. Blauser recorded a team high 16 kills and dropped in ASU's only ace. Titley trailed firing in 11 total kills against the Greyhounds. Both players led the team's defense with seven total blocks each. This included a season high five solo blocks for Blauser.
Also aiding the Belles on the court was Brianna Sotello, who tallied nine kills and 10 digs for the match. She also added four total blocks to her numbers for the night.
Anchoring the defense at the libero position was Mallory Davidson. The sophomore, defensive player of the week, chalked up her second highest dig (21) total of the season against the ENMU attack. This marked her 13th consecutive match with double-figure digs. She was also second on the squad with three assists for the match. Â
Continuing to set up the ASU attack was Meghan Parker, who recorded her eighth double-double of the season. The freshman penciled in 35 assists and 11 digs for the night. This was her 25th match of the season with at least 30 assists. She also finished the match with a pair of block assists.
The Greyhounds opened the match taking an early 6-3 lead that would force ASU to take an early timeout. Coming out of the break, Morgan Seaton strung together three kills that would pull the Belles to within two of the opposition at 6-8. After an ENMU point, Titley and Sotello recorded their first points of the match, which accompanied by a Greyhound error would tie the match at nine. Eastern New Mexico would respond with a 5-2 run that would push the team ahead for the final time and it would hold off the Belles for the remainder to take the set.
A Blauser kill followed by a block from Titley and Jenna Markey would kick off the second set for ASU. The opposition would respond with a 9-3 run that would give ENMU the push it needed to take over the lead and maintain it for the majority of the set. Down 23-21, a Blauser kill followed by a Titley and Sotello block would bring the score to an even 23. The two team would exchange points until with 25 -25 on the board ENMU would close out the set taking a 2-0 set lead in the match.
The Belles would exit the intermission with a fire as it opened the third set with a 5-1 run that saw Ali Davison's first kills of the match. With a 9-7 lead, ASU kicked of its second 5-1 run of the set, which saw big swings from Titley and Blauser. ASU would put the set away with a third 5-1 run that was headed by a Davison kill. Blauser would place the final point on the board for the Belles with a big solo block. ASU would now trail 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set would begin with the two teams tied at five each. The Greyhounds would take a 14-13 lead, before the Belles would score seven of the next nine points to regain a 20-16 lead. Scoring the final three points to break the 25-25 tie, ASU would take the set to tie the match and send it into a tiebreaker set. Despite a 6-2 run by the Belles in the fifth set, ASU would fall short.
Angelo State will look to bounce back as it continues its New Mexico road trip with a match up against Western New Mexico in Silver City on Saturday, November 12 at 6 p.m. (CST).
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