CANYON, Texas – The East Central University volleyball team splits its final day of the BritKare Lady Buff Classic, defeating St. Mary's University in a thrilling five-set victory (23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 15-13)  for the first win of the 2023 season and for Head Coach Danielle Essix before falling 3-1 to Adams State University (25-13, 22-25, 17-25, 15-25) to close out the weekend.
 
"We showed a lot of good things this weekend, it tested us physically and mentally," Essix said. "We are battling and giving a lot of effort while learning to play with each other. I am proud of our grit and look to improve on finishing."
 
Match 1 | ECU vs St. Mary's
After dropping the opening set 25-23, ECU settled in by winning the second. The Tigers jumped out to an 11-6 lead that was eventually erased by the Rattlers by the 20-18 mark. With St. Mary's closing in, the Tigers busted off three points in a row and five of the next eight to regain control.
 
Tied 1-1 in sets, St. Mary's took the third set with a decisive 25-15 win that put ECU back down 2-1 in the match.
 
With their back against the wall, the Tigers bounced back and finished strong by winning the fourth 25-23 and forcing a deciding fifth set.
 
The fifth set, while filled with suspense in a tight match, sparked momentum in the Tigers as they kept their composure the entire time in a match that saw five ties and two lead changes. St. Mary's hung around, but a final kill from Emma Strickland and an attack error from the Rattlers closed things out for good 15-13 and the 3-2 victory.
 
Emma Strickland led the way for the Tigers, earning her first double-double of the season, and 23^rd of her career, with an impressive 22 kills and 11 digs. Odalys Gonzalez helped balance the attacks by notching her second double-double of the season with 17 kills and a team-high 19 digs. Freshman Kayli Henderson had a breakout game tallying eight kills and five total blocks. Brooke Sarahina was the third Tiger to record a double-double dishing out 28 assists and 14 digs.
 
Match 2 | ECU vs Adams State
ECU started out hot in set one jumping out the gate to an 8-1 advantage that propelled them to a dominant 25-13 victory.
 
But after cruising to an opening set win, Adams State flipped the script in the second. The Grizzlies managed to come from behind a 13-8 Tiger lead to tie it 21-all before closing on a 4-1 spurt to knot the sets 1-1.
 
The next two sets featured a different looking ECU team than before as the Tigers fell victim to 12 Adam State blocks and 17 attack errors that made it difficult to come back from, resulting in a 3-1 loss.
 
Odalys Gonzalez and Emma Strickland earned double-digit kills. Gonzalez recorded 16 kills and 13 digs in her double-double performance while Strickland added 11 kills and a service ace. Brooke Sarahina dished out 19 assists and teammate Julia Kabala garnered 12 to go along with four digs each.
 
The East Central University volleyball team will return to Ada for their 2023 home opener against Langston University on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7 pm.