MARSHALL, Texas — UMHB Volleyball’s legacy of success in ASC Tournament play added another chapter on Friday evening.
The third-seeded Cru emerged victorious in a thrilling five-set victory over No. 2 seed Hardin-Simmons, winning the first two sets before dropping the third and fourth and taking a 15-12 win in the fifth. UMHB advanced to the ASC Tournament final for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, and has a chance at the program’s fourth conference championship on Saturday against ETBU.
Saturday’s duel marks the second-straight season that the ASC Tournament title will come down to a match between Mary Hardin-Baylor and ETBU, as the two met in last year’s final in Belton. ETBU came away with a 3-0 sweep in that pivotal match.
“Hardin-Simmons is a tough team so the last two weeks I’ve been really proud of how the girls have prepared at practice,” assistant coach Rylee Bales said in the post-match press conference. “That’s where it all started. The mindset they had going into this game about winning being the only option was a big deal and I think that we hit all of our game plan goals.”
UMHB and HSU battled back-and-forth through the opening set, before a 6-2 Crusader run extended the lead from 9-8 to 15-10. It proved to be the largest lead UMHB held in the first set, as HSU used multiple scoring runs to edge closer, eventually tying the score at 22 apiece in a 4-0 run. But UMHB recorded three of the final four points in the set, with a Natalie Hughes kill providing the statement finish for The Cru’s 25th point.
The second set was equally competitive, and UMHB trailed for a significant portion. HSU reached match point on a Jadyn Hernandez kill, putting the Cowgirls up 24-22, but UMHB withstood the pressure and fought back. The Cru scored three straight points and closed the set on a 5-1 run, winning 27-25 in yet another strong finish.
After HSU took a 25-23 win in Set 3 and a 25-22 victory in Set 4, tying the score at 2-2, UMHB displayed more of that closing strength in the decisive fifth set. The Cru sealed the win when it mattered most, even as HSU had picked up momemtum with consecutive set victories. UMHB jumped out to a 5-2 lead that soon became 9-4 on a service ace. HSU, unwilling to back down that easily, scored five straight points, tying the score only for UMHB to pull back ahead on an HSU attack error and a kill from Kendall Harrington. When the Cowgirls knotted the score for a second time, this one coming as both squads were deadlocked at 12 points apiece, UMHB pressed forward, forcing a service error and consecutive attack errors in a match-sealing 15-12 victory.
“Losing the third and fourth set is definitely hard, and it’s hard to get momentum back,” Harrington said after the match. “But I think we really did a good job of uniting as a team and getting going.”
Post-match press conference:
Notables
- Kendall Harrington’s 22 kills led the team, and marked a season-high for the sophomore. It was also her first performance of the season with 20 or more kills in a single match.
- Harrington hit .304 on 46 attacks, an impressive percentage. She has now recorded a hitting percentage above .300 in three of UMHB’s last four matches.
- Caiden Lasala tallied 30 digs, which was the second time this season she recorded at least 30 digs in a five-set match. The first instance came in a road win at Rhodes when Lasala had 34.
- Both of UMHB’s wins over HSU this season came in five sets. Incredibly, four of The Cru’s six wins over HSU since 2021 have been five-set matches.
Up Next
Saturday’s ASC championship match begins at 3 p.m. CT. ETBU enters as the nation’s ninth-ranked team, holding a 27-1 record. The Tigers won their semifinal match on Friday, beating LeTourneau, 3-1.
