DURANT, OKLA. – The East Central University volleyball team fell in the opening matches of the 2016 season, dropping 1-3 (25-11, 16-25, 19-25, 21-25) decision to New Mexico Highlands and then a 0-3 (11-25, 18-25, 15-25) loss to Central Oklahoma at the South Central Classic.

The Tigers were paced by juniors Madeline Mayer, Madyson Gill and Jessica Sullivan.  Mayer tallied 14 kills and six service aces, Gill added 13 kills, five aces, 17 digs and three block assists, while Sullivan netted 11 kills.  Junior Taylor Turner tallied 41 assists and three service aces.

On defense, ECU was led by junior Lily Porsa, with 25 digs.

The Tigers will return to the court, Saturday, Sept. 2 starting at noon against Union University (Tenn.) at noon and then face Cameron at 5 p.m. to wrap up the tournament.

New Mexico Highlands 3, East Central 1
ECU came out strong in the opening set, claiming a 25-11 win.  The teams battled through several tie scores at the beginning, before a 12-2 run by the Tigers gave them a 21-8 advantage.  The teams traded points the rest of the set before ECU claimed the win.

However, that would be the final set win for the Tigers on the day.  The teams battled tightly at the start of the second set, but New Mexico Highlands started to push ahead after a six-all tie and never relinquished the lead on the way to a 16-25 win.

The third set say the Cowgirls jump out to a 1-5 lead and despite ECU forcing the momentum to get to 7-8, never gave up the lead.  The teams battled through the rest of the set before NMHU took the 19-25 win.

The final set started out close again and this time the Tigers took a lead with a 2-0 run (6-4).  However, the Cowgirls countered with a 5-0 run to take the lead.  ECU kept fighting and eventually tied the set at 15 and forcing ties through 21.  But it was NMHU that scored the final four points for the 21-25 win.

UCO 3, East Central 0
UCO came out strong right from the start of the match, taking a 0-5 lead in the opening set and never letting up on the way to an 11-25 win in set one.

Set two was the same, with the Bronchos earning an 18-25 win.

The Tigers fought at the start of the third set, forcing ties at two, four and five, but a 6-0 run by UCO gave them the lead for good on the way to a 15-25 win.