Belton, Texas - The Centenary volleyball team dropped a pair of non-conference matches on Friday to Howard Payne University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor as the Ladies opened their 2022 season in the Mary Hardin-Baylor Tournament inside the Mayborn Campus Center.
The Ladies (0-2) fell in a hard-fought match to Howard Payne, 3-2, in their first match of the day and were then swept by the host Cru, 3-0, on Friday evening. Centenary will face Hendrix College on Saturday at 10:30 AM to complete the weekend.
Match One Recap: Howard Payne 3 Centenary 2
The Lady Jackets outlasted the Ladies in five sets, clinching the win with a 16-14 decision. Centenary opened the match with a 25-23 win in set one followed by a 25-19 set two win and appeared poised for the sweep. But, Howard Payne claimed a hard-fought set three, 30-28, and then evened things up with a 25-19 win in the fourth set. The Ladies held a 13-9 lead but allowed five straight points by the Lady Jackets to fall behind 14-13. The Maroon and White managed to tie it up, but Howard Payne scored the next two points to clinch the victory.
Centenary finished with an impressive 93 digs, its most since recording 101 in a 3-2 win over Dallas on March 27, 2021. The Ladies added 64 kills, 61 assists, and 12 aces. Howard Payne totaled 85 digs, 60 kills, 54 assists, and four aces. Centenary hit .115 for the match with a pair of blocks. Senior DS/L Jaycie Proctor (Paris, Texas) finished one shy of her single-game career high in digs with 31 against the Lady Jackets. She added three assists, an ace, and a kill. Senior MB Caroline Richmond (Marquez, Texas) had an impressive match with 14 digs and 13 kills. The 64 kills are tied for the ninth-most all-time in a match in the current division III era (2011-present) and the 61 assists are tied for seventh all-time in a match in D3 era. The Maroon and White also finished with an impressive 209 attack attempts, which is tied for eighth all-time in a match in D3 era.
Senior MB Liz Lowe (San Antonio, Texas) tallied 12 kills, seven digs, three aces, and a pair of assists. Freshman S Meadow Smith (Mansfield, Texas) had an impressive collegiate debut as she finished with a team-high 28 assists, 10 digs, two aces, and a kill. Senior S/RS Rachel Demerjian (Glendora, Calif.) posted 24 assists, 10 digs, a team-high five aces, and a kill. Freshman MB Susi Curtis (Haslet, Texas) added nine kills in her first collegiate match, and fellow rookie, OH Jaeda Moreno (Weslaco, Texas) had four digs, two kills, and one assist.
Sophomore RS Jaylin St. Martin (New Orleans, La.) finished with 10 kills, four digs, and three assists. Junior MB/OH Robin Lemelle (Liberty, Texas) had 12 digs and an ace and sophomore MB Elizabeth Canady (League City, Texas) posted eight kills.
Match Two Recap: Mary Hardin-Baylor 3 Centenary 0
The Cru edged the Ladies, 25-22, in set one and then took care of business from then on, winning the second set 25-15 and clinching the sweep with a 25-13 win in set three. Centenary hit just .067 and committed 21 errors in the match while MHB finished an impressive .254. Centenary finished with 63 digs, 30 assists, 31 kills, and three aces while MHB wound up with 80 digs, 46 kills, 43 assists, and a pair of aces.
Proctor again led the way in figs with 19 and added three assists and two aces. Demerjian had 15 assists, 12 digs, and two kills. Richmond tallied eight kills, six digs, and an assist and Lowe tallied five kills, one dig, and an ace. Sophomore OH/DS Kiara Liedy (Sugar Land, Texas) posted eight digs and an assist and Lemelle, Curtis, Canady, and St. Martin combined to post 11 digs and 10 kills. Smith had eight assists, one dig, and one kill. Senior OH Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) had five digs, five kills, and two assists in her team debut.
Centenary opens its home schedule on Tuesday, Sept. 6 versus Texas A&M-Texarkana in a non-conference match set for 6 p.m. in the Gold Dome.
See the complete Ladies' schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wvball/2022-23/schedule
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
