PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball program will look to build upon three solid home victories as the Hounds will compete in a pair of road matches this week. The Greyhounds will first travel to San Antonio to take on St. Mary's in non-conference action on Friday at 2 p.m. before heading to Kingsville, Texas to face Texas A&M-Kingsville in Lone Star Conference action on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Hounds picked up three big conference victories at home last week when they hosted West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico and Texas-Permian Basin. On Sept. 18, the Hounds and Lady Buffs fought in a back-and-forth match as the two teams traded the first four sets. In the crucial fifth set, the Greyhounds offense came alive, tallying nine kills in the set to win the match 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 25-13, 13-25, 15-9).

Eastern followed it up with a dominant sweep over Western New Mexico on Friday, winning by a score of 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18). The Hounds defense held the Mustangs to just a .040 attack percentage in the match. The defense was even stronger against Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday as they once again picked up a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-19) win. ENMU held the Falcons in-check as they could only manage a -.040 attack percentage, the lowest the Hounds have allowed all season. The last time Eastern had held an opponent to a negative attack percentage was on Sept. 30, 2014 when the Hounds defeated the University of the Southwest 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) as the Mustangs finished the match with the -.061 attack percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
St. Mary's enters the week with a 6-9 overall record, but are undefeated at 2-0 in home matches. The Rattlers are bouncing back from a tough stretch as they picked up a three-set sweep over Texas A&M-International at home after dropping six of their previous seven matches. The Rattlers will host Lubbock Christian tonight before facing the Hounds tomorrow.

The SMU attack is led by senior outside hitter Channing Hankins and freshman outside hitter Alissa Tolbert. Hankins this season has accumulated 189 points on 177 kills and is averaging 3.38 points per set while Tolbert has scored 159 points on 134 kills and has recorded 15 service aces to average 3.06 points per set.

Junior setter Bree Perry will be feeding the offensive attack, leading the team with 390 assists on a 7.22 assists per set average while senior defensive specialist Monica Ramon leads the back line for the Rattlers with a team-high 191 digs, averaging 4.15 digs per set.
 
SCOUTING THE JAVELINAS
Texas A&M-Kingsville comes into the match with a 10-4 overall mark and a 2-4 record in Lone Star Conference play. Coming off a busy week, the Javelinas competed in five matches in five days as they came away with a 3-2 record in those matches. Kingsville will face West Texas A&M tomorrow night before facing the Hounds on Saturday.

Leading the TAMUK attack is senior right side hitter Madison Brabham, who has a team-high 215.5 points on 183 kills and averages 3.99 points per set. She is also a strong distributor as she is second on the team with 235 assists and averages 4.35 assists per set.

Freshman setter Emily North leads the team with 413 assists, recording 6.35 assists per set while freshman defensive specialist Nicole Murff controls the back line for the Javelinas with a team-leading 5.14 digs per set with 334 digs.
 
IT TAKES TWO
After their solid performances last week, senior middle blocker Jennifer Martinez and senior libero Alba Ontiveros each earned LSC Player of the Week Awards. Martinez took home LSC Offensive Player of the Week award after finishing the week with a combined 30 kills in the three matches, including a career-high 11 kills in both the Western New Mexico and Texas-Permian Basin. Against the Mustangs, Martinez hit for a season-best .571 attack percentage while also tying a career-high with seven total blocks. In the UTPB match, Martinez was efficient once again, finishing the match with a .421 attack percentage while tallying a season-high three service aces and picked up three more blocks.

Ontiveros controlled the back line for the Hounds, tallying 54 digs in the three matches, averaging 4.91 digs per set. In the West Texas A&M match, Ontiveros recorded the second-highest dig total in a single match with 25 digs, averaging five digs per set in the match. In the UTPB match, Ontiveros was even more efficient as she recorded 16 digs and average 5.33 digs per set.
 
FANTASTIC FOUR-TH
The Greyhounds come into the week ranked fourth in the LSC in both team hitting percentage (.191) and opponent hitting percentage (.154). The only other team in the LSC that ranks in the top four in both categories is current conference leader Tarleton State (14-2, 6-0 LSC).