PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team will get their 2018 Lone Star Conference schedule started this weekend with matches scheduled for Friday, Sept. 7 at Midwestern State and Saturday, Sept. 8 at Cameron.

SO FAR THIS SEASON
The Hounds had a solid weekend at the 2018 Hilltopper Volleyball Classic, posting a record of 2-1 for the tournament. Eastern New Mexico will enter LSC play with a record of 2-5 and have not had a shortage of exciting matches so far this season. Four out of the seven matches have extended to a fifth set, including both wins over Purdue-Northwest and Colorado State-Pueblo. Twice the Hounds have battled back from being down 2-0 in the match to force a fifth set in games against Emporia State and Adams State.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Eastern New Mexico is 19-17 all-time against MSU Texas, but dropped both matches a season ago by finals of 3-0 and 3-1. The Mustangs hold the advantage 8-7 on games played at home and will be hosting Eastern for their home opener inside D.L. Coliseum this weekend.

MSU Texas has started off their season with a 2-6 record under first year head coach Valerie Armstrong. The Mustangs defeated #16 Central Oklahoma back on Aug. 24 in Stephenville, Texas at the Tarleton State Invitational by a final of 3-2, but went winless last week at the Rosella Meier UNK Fall Classic in four matches.

Midwestern ranks at the bottom of the LSC in team hitting percentage (.067), but sits third in the conference in service aces with 1.61 per set. Redshirt freshman Addy Cook currently ranks eighth in the conference with an average of 3.00 kills per set while junior Erin Richburg is tied for third in the league with 14 service aces throughout the season in 28 sets.

The Mustangs finished the 2017 season with a conference record of 7-13 and defeated only Eastern New Mexico and UT-Permian Basin twice. Junior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner led Eastern in kills in both meetings between the two teams a year ago with 16 and 12.

SCOUTING THE MINERS
The series is dead even between Eastern and Cameron at 22-22, but the Hounds have dominated the Miners recently, defeating the Miners in the last five meetings between the two squads. None of those five matches have reached a fifth set, including two sweeps in favor of Eastern.

Cameron will enter the weekend with a record of 2-8 with wins over Union (Tenn.) and Chadron State. The Miners suffered a 3-2 defeat in their final non-conference match against Southern Nazarene earlier this week. Despite their losing record, the Miners rank fourth in the LSC in team hitting percentage (.200) and are coming off a match against Southern Nazarene in which they totaled 10 blocks as a team.

Senior Page Dixon leads the Miners with 109 total kills while libero Brittnee Altic ranks third in the league with an average of 5.26 digs per set. Altic recorded 31 digs in Cameron's match back on Aug. 24 against Mississippi College, which stands as the third most total digs in a match so far this year in the LSC.

The Miners finished 2017 with a conference record of 3-17 and lost both matches to Eastern New Mexico.

A CONSISTENT GANNON
Eastern New Mexico sophomore Jasmine Gannon has posted 10 or more kills in every match so far this season for the Hounds. That consistency in the opening two tournaments for the Hounds led to her selection to the All-Tournament Team at both the 2018 BritKare Lady Buff Classic and 2018 Hilltopper Volleyball Classic. Gannon currently ranks fourth in the LSC in kills per set with 3.50.

SUPPORTING CAST
Three other Hounds have registered 10 or more kills in a match this season in Sarah Tuioti-Mariner, Julie Tucker, and Lauryn Bresnahan. Tuioti-Mariner ranks 12^th in the league with 2.72 kills per set while Tucker has operated at an efficient rate throughout the first two weekends of the season and ranks 14^th in the conference with a .250 hitting percentage. Gannon and Tuioti-Mariner have each recorded three double-doubles.

THE BACK LINE OF DEFENSE
Senior Alba Ontiveros has been exceptional so far this year on defense for Eastern and ranks sixth in the LSC with 4.78 digs per set. Ontiveros has led the Hounds in digs in every match except one this season. The New Mexico native posted 30 digs in the Hounds' match against Purdue Northwest on Aug. 31, which stands as the sixth highest total in the league in a single match.

THE ASSISSTING DUO
Senior Kaitlyn Kluna and freshman Rae Sapiga have both shared in the setter duties so far this year. Kluna leads with 294 assists while Sapiga has recorded 226. Both players have also made their presence felt serving with Sapiga sitting 15^th in the Lone Star with 10 total aces and Kluna is second on the team with seven.