SAN ANTONIO – The East Central University volleyball team concluded their final day of the Rattler Invitational, dropping a pair of 3-0 matches on Saturday inside Bill Greehey Arena. The Tigers fell to hosts St. Mary's University in the morning and were then defeated by No. 1 Tampa in the afternoon contest.
 
"I think this weekend taught us a lot," Head Coach Danielle Essix said. "We played against some really good teams and it showed us we have what it takes to compete at a high level. We will bounce back and continue to work towards our end goal."
 
ECU vs. St. Mary's | (19-25, 15-25, 21-25)
In their first match of the day, the Tigers and Rattlers were neck-and-neck in the opening two sets, but St. Mary's managed to pull ahead with timely scoring runs. In the third set, the Rattlers jumped out to a 5-0 lead and maintained it until the end to complete the 3-0 sweep.
 
St. Mary's achieved their highest hitting percentage of the season at .325 while ECU recorded a .172 hitting percentage.
 
Odalys Gonzalez maintained her impressive performance throughout the weekend, leading the Tigers with 13 digs and 14 kills for her sixth double-double of the season. Emma Strickland narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 10 digs while Julia Kabala also fell just short, registering 29 assists and nine digs.
 
ECU vs. Tampa | (16-25, 16-25, 25-27)
Facing the No. 1 team in the nation, Tampa University, the Tigers were slow to start but picked up the intensity. Despite losing the first two sets decisively, ECU fought hard in the third, which saw 16 score ties and five lead changes before the Spartans ultimately triumphed.
 
Emma Strickland led the Tigers with 11 kills while Odalys Gonzalez contributed 10. Strickland also added 11 digs in the match to pick up her sixth double-double of the season and is now 17 digs away from reaching 1,000 career digs. Valentina Tijerina reached the milestone with her eight digs, bringing her collegiate career total to 1,001 digs.
 
The ECU volleyball team will now prepare for their first Great American Conference game against Northwestern Oklahoma State University on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 6 pm in Alva.