LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The TSU volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to New Mexico State and Arizona in the opener of the Borderland Invitational on Friday.
NEW MEXICO STATE 3, TSU 0
New Mexico State won the opener by a 3-0 margin over TSU on Friday.
The Aggies jumped out to a 12-1 lead in set one to win 25-10. TSU regained its bearings and began to settle down in set two as they led 6-5 early on. Both teams were tied at 11-all and began a back-and-forth affair as NMSU led 15-14 before they went on a 6-1 run to lead 21-15. Kourtni Collier had a block, kill and ace to spark a 4-1 run to trail 22-19 but NMSU scored three straight to win set two.
TSU led 6-2 to open set three and extended it to 11-6. However, the Aggies went on a 7-2 run to knot it 13-all before jumping ahead 18-16. They moved ahead 22-18 but TSU fought back with kills from Morgynne McQueen and Kennedi Walker to trail 22-20. It went back-and-forth from that point but TSU couldn't make a defensive stop as UNM won 25-22.
Gracie Hill and Keldri Young both had six kills while Ava Ray had 14 digs followed by 11 from Walker. Angelika Rusin added 11 digs defensively.
ARIZONA 3, TSU 0
Arizona used a pair of late runs in the first two sets as they claimed a 3-0 win over TSU in the second match.
TSU and Arizona started out tied at 6-all in set one but the Wildcats scored five straight to lead 11-6. TSU countered with two points for an 11-8 margin and stayed within striking distance as they trailed 16-13 but UA outscored them 9-3 to win set one 25-16.
Set two was like set one as both teams stayed within striking distance of each other as UA led 9-7. UA scored three straight to lead 12-7 but TSU answered with two points for a 12-9 margin. UA went on a 9-2 run to lead 21-11 to pull away en route to a 25-16 win.
TSU struggled to begin set three as they trailed 12-1 and never recovered as they dropped the match 25-7.
Gracie Hill had five kills for TSU and Walker had eight assists. Rusin had seven digs while Coller had three assisted blocks.
TSU closes out tourney play with a 12 p.m. match against Abilene Christian on Saturday.
