SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Eastern New Mexico volleyball were handed a 3-0 loss at St. Mary's University on Saturday afternoon at Bill Greehey Arena. The Hounds fall to 1-6 in Lone Star Conference (LSC) play, while the Rattlers elevate their record to 3-5 in conference action.
 
The Rattlers raced out to a 14-6 lead to start the first set, which forced a timeout from ENMU. The home team continued to dominate, ballooning its lead to 19-10 as the Hounds struggled to stop St. Mary's. Late kills from Gracelyn Stubbs and Jasmine Gannon could not stop StMU, as they grabbed the first set 25-15.
 
Eastern opened the second set with just a one-point deficit, falling behind 5-4 StMU. However, the Rattlers strung together five straight kills to make the lead six points, 10-4. The Greyhounds mounted a small comeback, but still trailed 13-11. St. Mary's then produced a 6-1 run to create a seven-point margin, 19-12. The home team went on to finish the set with a 25-13 score line, holding a 2-0 sets advantage.

St. Mary's continued their momentum from the prior two sets, jumping out to an early 10-6 lead. From then, both teams traded points, putting the score at 19-15 StMU. Mikaela Garvin, Adriana Puni, Kali Nelson, and Stubbs all picked up kills during the back and forth. The Rattlers proceeded to close the set with a 6-1 run (25-16), taking the match 3-0 over ENMU.

NOTABLE STATS

• St. Mary's were efficient in attack, posting a .467 hitting percentage on the afternoon. Not only was it a season high for StMU, but it was the highest percentage in a single game by any LSC team this season.
• Gannon lead the Eastern attack with nine kills, while Stubbs had six kills in the match.
• Qitana Sapiga collected 11 assists on the afternoon, while Rae Sapiga added nine assists.
• The digs were spread-out among the team, with seven different Greyhounds suppling three digs.
• Stubbs, Puni, Nelson, and Jordan O'Connor-Dempsey each provided a block on the afternoon.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• ENMU clashed with St. Mary's for the first time since Sept. 27, 2019. The Rattlers walked out with a 3-0 victory on that day.
• The Hounds will return to Greyhound Arena for their next game, against University of Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday, Oct. 15, beginning at 6 p.m. That weekend, Eastern will be sporting pink jerseys as part of Dig Pink Weekend for ENMU Volleyball, along with US Bank Family Weekend for the Eastern New Mexico campus.