PINEVILLE, La. – After honoring two seniors on senior day, the Louisiana Christian University volleyball team went on to sweep the Texas College Steers 3-0 (25-6, 25-12, 25-11) Saturday on Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse to win pick up its third-straight win. The Wildcats improved to 7-11 in conference play.
Jalee Flores,
Kourtlyn Smith and
Vivien Brouillette shared the offensive lead with eight kills apiece as Louisiana Christian (8-19, 7-11 RRAC) hit .338 with 36 kills. Flores finished without an attack error in 12 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage, while Brouillette hit .385.
Emma Cother, one of the seniors honored pregame, distributed 30 assists and delivered four of the Wildcats' 15 service aces. Smith added three aces, contributing to a serving effort that produced only three errors.
LCU turned a 5-4 first-set lead into a decisive opening win by taking 20 of the final 22 points from Texas College (2-24, 0-17 RRAC).
Alanah Dugar served consecutive aces to complete a seven-point run that stretched the advantage from 9-5 to 16-5. After surrendering one point, the Wildcats closed with nine straight, including three aces from Cother. LCU recorded 11 kills and hit .364 in the set.
Flores supplied three kills during a six-point run that broke a 1-1 tie in the second set. The Wildcats extended their lead to 18-4 on a Smith kill, then had to regroup as the margin narrowed to 19-10. LCU responded with three consecutive kills to move ahead 22-10 and secured the set on an attack error. The Wildcats finished the frame with 16 kills and a .375 hitting percentage.
Joie Goodwin contributed two kills without an error in three attempts and one ace during one set of action.
Consecutive Flores kills helped LCU establish an 8-1 lead in the third set. That advantage shrank to 8-5 and later 9-6 before the Wildcats pulled away again, with consecutive Smith aces stretching the lead to 19-10. LCU scored the final six points, combining blocks by Cother and Dugar, then
Holly Rowe and Dugar, with a match-ending ace from the other senior honored on the day,
Yadneli Molina.
The Wildcats finished with five team blocks, led by Dugar's solo block and two block assists. Dugar and Rowe also supplied four kills each.
Kylie Elmore led the back row with six digs, followed by Molina with five as LCU totaled 23.
The Wildcats hit the road for the final two matches of the regular season, hitting the road to Hobbs, N.M. for a pair of matches against Southwest. Opening serve of the weekend's first match against the Mustangs (4-13, 4-13 RRAC) is set for 7 p.m. CST/6 p.m. MST at the Jack & Mabel Maddox Student Life Center.
