AUSTIN, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball program finished up the 2018 Hilltopper Volleyball Classic with a 3-1 (25-20, 18-25, 18-25, 22-25) defeat at the hands of St. Edward's University.

The Hounds finished the weekend with a record of 2-1 and will now look ahead to their Lone Star Conference schedule beginning on Sept. 7 at Midwestern State. Eastern took the opening set from the Hilltoppers 25-20, but were unable to put together any further set victories in the match.

That opening set victory was spurred by a quick start from Eastern as the Hounds jumped out to an 8-3 lead early in the match. Eastern extended their lead by as many as seven points in the set and ended the match with three kills to take the 1-0 advantage in the match.

St. Edwards took the lead at the 9-8 mark of the second set and never looked back, capping off the set victory with four straight points. Eastern led the third set all the way up to the 12-12 mark before the Hilltoppers put together an 8-2 run to pull away in the third set.

The Hounds worked hard to force a fifth set and built a 20-15 lead in the fourth set. St. Edwards responded by putting together a 10-2 run to close out the set and the match.

Sophomore Jasmine Gannon led the squad with 14 kills for the match and also produced three blocks and nine digs. Junior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 20 digs while senior Alba Ontiveros led the team with 21 digs.

Senior Kaitlyn Kluna and freshman Rae Sapiga recorded 23 and 20 assists respectively.

Eastern will travel to Midwestern State and Cameron next weekend for matches scheduled for Sept. 7 and 8 at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m.