PORTALES, N.M. – The St. Edward's Hilltoppers volleyball team dropped its second game of the weekend road trip, falling in four sets (25-23, 17-25, 26-18, 18-25) to the Easter New Mexico Greyhounds.
MAYA SMALLS led St. Edward's with 16 kills on a .298 hitting percentage, adding five block assists for 18.5 points. Once again, the Hilltoppers struggled to contain Eastern New Mexico's Mikaela Garvin, who followed her 14 kills in the first meeting between the two teams with 21 on a .462 clip.
St. Edward's opened strong, setting the tone with a strong serve, getting four aces. Smalls and CAROLINE SWAN added four kills each, and AJANI HODGES was strong at the net with three of her seven block assists in the first set to win 25-23.
The tables were turned in the second set with Eastern New Mexico's Anjolina
Perez recording four of the team's five aces in the set, putting the Hilltoppers
back on their heels. The Hilltoppers
couldn't get their attack going, finishing the set with more errors (six) than kills (five).
Smalls led the team with seven kills and two block assists in the third set with St. Edward's jumping out to a 20-14 lead. The Hilltoppers hit a drought, allowing Eastern New Mexico to tie the set on an 8-2 run. St. Edward's had two opportunities to close the set out but lost 28-26.
Garvin and Gracelyn Stubbs combined for 10 kills on 17 attacks to close out the fourth set and take the match.
St. Edward's falls to 5-12 with a 2-4 conference record while Easter New Mexico improves to 10-9 and earns its first conference win. The Hilltoppers will travel to San Antonio on Wednesday for the Battle of the Saints rivalry match with St. Mary's.
