Walnut Ridge, Ark. – The Centenary volleyball team earned a doubleheader split with the Williams Baptist University Eagles in non-conference play on Saturday afternoon at the Southerland-Mabee Center.
The Ladies (6-5) fell 3-1 in the first match of the day but rebounded with a 3-1 victory of their own in the second half of the DH over the Eagles (3-12). Centenary is 6-2 since opening the season 0-3.
Williams Baptist raced out to a 25-11 win in the opening set of the first match and followed that with a 25-19 decision in set two. The Ladies earned a close win (25-22) in set three before the Eagles closed out the victory with a 25-17 margin in set four. In the second match, the Eagles opened with a 25-21 win but the Ladies responded with consecutive wins in sets two (25-16) and three (25-18) before closing out the win in the fourth set, 25-23.
The Ladies finished the first match with 67 digs, 41 kills, 34 assists, three aces, and two blocks. The Eagles also tallied 67 digs along with 24 kills, 35 assists, seven aces, and seven solo blocks. In the second match, Centenary totaled 58 digs, 45 kills, 39 assists, 13 aces, and eight blocks while Williams Baptist finished with 55 digs, 34 kills, 30 assists, eight aces, and five blocks. The Ladies' 13 service aces tied their single-game high for the season previously set on Sept. 13 at home versus Texas A&M-Texarkana.
Sophomore OH/DS Kiara Liedy (Sugar Land, Texas) set a single-match career high with 27 digs in game one of the DH as she capped a terrific week in which she tallied 47 total digs over three matches and averaged 4.27 digs per set. Freshman S Meadow Smith (Mansfield, Texas) had an impressive day as she recorded 18 digs, nine assists, four service aces, and a kill. Her nine assists and four aces both came in the 3-1 win in the second match.
Freshman MB Susi Curtis (Haslet, Texas) totaled 13 kills, five digs, and two blocks while junior MB/OH Robin Lemelle (Liberty, Texas) finished with 22 digs and a pair of kills. Senior MB Liz Lowe (San Antonio, Texas) had 21 kills, five digs, four aces, three blocks, and an assist. Senior S/RS Rachel Demerjian (Glendora, Calif.) racked up 62 assists in the two matches, 13 digs, 10 kills, three aces, and a solo block. Senior DS Mariah Martinez (San Antonio, Texas) played in the first match and tallied a pair of digs.
Freshman OH Jaeda Moreno (Weslaco, Texas) finished the day with eight digs, five kills, an ace, and a solo block. Senior OH Jazzmyn Jones (Normangee, Texas) had 12 kills, seven digs, two blocks, and one ace. Sophomore RS Aubrey Salazar (San Antonio, Texas) was very productive as she posted 16 kills on the day with two digs and a block. Sophomore MB/OH McKayla Merrow (Shreveport, La.) added four kills and a dig in match one.
Centenary will face the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Eagles for a second time this season on Tuesday night on the road after recording a 3-1 win over them back on Sept. 6 in the home opener.
See the complete Ladies' schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wvball/2022-23/schedule
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