CANYON, Texas – The East Central University volleyball team opened the season against two tough opponents at the annual BritKare Lady Buff Classic, battling the host No. 1 West Texas A&M and Davenport University but falling 3-1 to the Lady Buffs and 3-0 to the Panthers in the first day of competition.
 
"I thought we competed really well, especially against West Texas A&M," Head Coach Danielle Essix said. "We got our first day nerves out. We are playing hard and trying new things. We will reset and compete hard in the morning."
 
The Tigers (0-2 overall) fell 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 13-25 to the defending National Champions to start the day, then lost 25-18, 25-14, 25-23 to Davenport in their afternoon match.
 
Match 1 | ECU vs West Texas A&M
The first few points were traded off between the teams before West Texas A&M broke away with an 8-4 lead. The Tigers closed the gap to within two at 11-9, but a 6-0 run by the Lady Buffs dug ECU into a hole they could not get out of. West Texas A&M eventually closed out the opening set 25-16.
 
Set two was similar to the first, with ECU trailing 12-10 before a 5-1 scoring run from the Lady Bluffs put West Texas A&M out front 17-11. The Tigers refused to back down, though, and fought to claw their way back to tie the score 23-23. Despite their late push in the second set, two straight kills from the Lady Bluffs would solidify the score 25-23.
 
Trailing by as many as eight points in the third set, ECU dug deep to chip away at the West Texas A&M lead to eventually tie it 17-all. The lead changed seven times before a final push from the Tigers propelled them to a 25-23 win.
 
The Lady Buffs took control of the fourth set, going on a few different scoring runs that made it difficult for the Tigers to come back, resulting in a 25-13 loss.
 
Three players made their program debut including Julia Kabala, Angel Nahinu, and Odalys Gonzalez while Brooke Sarahina, Kayli Henderson, and Sydney Roshek all made their collegiate debut.
 
Gonzalez earned the Tigers' first double-double of the season, recording 20 kills and 11 digs in the four-set match. Kabala and Sarahina split the setting duties, dishing out 19 assists apiece and garnering six and eight digs, respectively. Libero Macey McAmis tallied a career-high 19 digs while junior Ashleigh Miller had a strong presence at the net with six total blocks.
 
Match 2 | ECU vs Davenport
The Tigers opened the first set strong with a 7-4 lead, but it was short-lived as the Panthers ripped off 10 of the next 11 points to gain control back for good and take the set 25-18.
 
The second set saw a variety of multi-point runs from Davenport that allowed the Panthers to string together stretches more consistently than the Tigers to take set two 25-14 and the 2-0 lead.
 
There was a fight within the Tigers in set three as the Panther went up early before ECU came back to knot the score 20-20. The two would trade points back and forth until the Tigers eventually fell in a close 25-23 showing.
 
Statistically, ECU and Davenport were nearly even in attack errors, service aces, and blocks, but the offensive production proved to be the difference in the match as the Panthers had double the amount of kills over the Tigers.
 
Emma Strickland led the Tigers with nine kills while Odalys Gonzalez was next with seven kills to go with her five digs. Ashleigh Miller posted a team-high four blocks and three service aces while Brooke Sarahina and Julia Kabala added 11 and 10 assists each.
 
The East Central University volleyball team will be back in action tomorrow, Sept. 2 when they take on St. Mary's University at 9 a.m. and then Adams State University at 4:30 p.m.