Above photo of Knedall Harrington (center) by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com
LONGVIEW, Texas-Kendall Harrington may only be nine matches into her collegiate career, but the Midland, Texas native has already made an impact for the UMHB volleyball program.
In a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) sweep of LeTourneau on Friday night, Harrington tallied 40 assists, finishing one assist shy of tying for fifth all-time in program history (in the D-III era) in assists in a three-set match. It is the seventh season within the last decade in which UMHB has had at least one individual 40-assist performance in a three-set contest.
Harrington tallied 14 assists in the third set, as UMHB pulled away from the Yellowjackets, claiming a win in the first match of American Southwest Conference play. UMHB is now 9-0 overall, while LETU remains winless at 0-6.
In that decisive third set, LETU cut UMHB’s lead to 9-6, before the Crusaders countered with six straight points. LETU, who stayed competitive through all three sets, came within six points later on, with UMHB’s lead at 17-11. But consecutive kills from Natalie Hughes and Emily Millikan–with assists from Harrington–widened the advantage to 19-11.
The back-and-forth pattern continued, as LETU cut the deficit to six points five more times. But UMHB responded in each instance, and sealed the victory on a match-clinching kill from Hughes, with Caitlyn Ellenburg on the assist. The kill was perfectly-placed, and landed in the middle of LETU’s defense, leaving no room for the Yellowjackets to keep the rally going.
Hannah Frasca added a team-high 14 kills and 17 digs. Dravyn Hurd, who ranked fourth in the nation in blocks per set entering the match, led The Cru with four blocks.
From Head Coach Mark Pryor
“It’s always nice to get a road win in conference. We were able to follow the game plan well enough to control their left side offense, and that allowed us to really transition well with our middles. Offensively, we were able to put the ball away pretty efficiently, so that was great to see.”
Match Notes
- The victory marked UMHB’s seventh sweep of the season, and fourth straight over LeTourneau.
- The last time LETU took a set against UMHB was in a Sept. 18, 2021 match in Longview, as The Cru prevailed, 3-1.
- UMHB’s 9-0 start is the second of its kind in The Cru’s D-III history. The only other season in which UMHB won its first nine games of the season came in 2021, when the Crusaders began the year with a 21-0 record.
- For the fifth time this season, Hannah Frasca finished with a double-digit number in kills. The senior from Spring, Texas, now leads UMHB with 90 kills through nine matches.
- Frasca also recorded her fifth double-double of the year, with her 14 kills and 17 digs.
- Kendall Harrington posted 30+ assists for the third straight match, finishing with 40. It was a collegiate-best for the true freshman, whose previous best performance was 36 assists last weekend against Austin College in a five-set match.
- UMHB has now won 19 straight matches against LeTourneau.
Up Next
UMHB makes its way to Marshall, Texas for an 11 a.m. match on Saturday morning against East Texas Baptist. The Tigers are 8-2, having won their last six, including conference wins over UT-Dallas and Concordia (TX).
“Tomorrow we will play a very talented team,” Pryor said, “and I’m excited to see how we respond to a very tough team in a tough environment on the road.”
