DENTON, Texas – Starting the weekend on a high note, Eastern New Mexico Volleyball picked up a pair of wins over Northwestern Oklahoma State, 3-0, and Ouachita Baptist, 3-2. The Greyhounds now stand at 5-2 on the season, with Northwestern Oklahoma falling to 4-2 and Ouachita Baptist slipping to 3-3 on the year.

GAME ONE: ENMU 3, NWOK 0

The Greyhounds opened the match with a 25-20 set win over the Rangers, jumping out to a comfortable lead and finishing set. ENMU started early with a 5-3 advantage, then ballooned its lead to 17-12. From then, a 5-1 run increased the lead even further with kills from Kali Nelson and Jordan O'Connor-Dempsey , and Anjolina Perez finding a service ace in the run.

In the second set, a large streak pushed in the middle of the set pushed the Hounds to 25-21 set win. With the set at 9-8 ENMU, the Hounds picked up seven straight points. Kayla Ison provided two service aces in the stretch, while Mikaela Garvin and Adriana Puni each found kills to go ahead eight. 16-8 ENMU. However, the Rangers made a late charge to cut the lead to two points, but Gracelyn Stubbs ended the set with a kill.

Eastern New Mexico made no mistake in the final set, jumping ahead quickly and building on its advantage. Seven straight points in the middle of the set pushed the score to 14-5, then a 6-0 run ended the match at 3-0, with the final set standing at 25-9. In the final frame, the Hounds picked up 14 kills and finished with a .303 hitting percentage in the third set.

NOTABLE STATS

• Eastern New Mexico held the advantage in kills (41-28), assists (37-26), and digs (64-48).
• Garvin paced the team with nine kills, while Puni chipped eight kills to the effort, and Perez finished with seven kills.
• Ison led the way with 16 assists in the match, while Qitana Sapiga finished with 12 assists.
• Getsemani Carrasco covered the floor with 23 digs in the match.
• Garvin provided five total blocks, while Nelson popped up with four total blocks.

GAME TWO: ENMU 3, OUA 0

The Tigers came out flying in the first two sets, winning 25-13 and 25-15. Each set saw Ouachita Baptist take a double-digit lead in both sets. However, Eastern responded in the third frame with an 11-1 run in the middle of the set, 20-11 ENMU. In the runs, the Hounds swung the momentum with four kills and four blocks. The Hounds took the set 25-15, with Garvin suppling back-to-back kills to end the set.
 
Eastern and Ouachita Baptist traded points throughout the fourth set, with the score tied at 9-9. A small spurt form the Hounds put them up 13-10, with Sapiga finding a service ace, and Garvin contributing a kill and block assists. The Greyhounds kept the slight advantage, but closed the set on a 8-4 streak to push the match to a fifth set, 25-19. Eastern scored all eight points from their play, with six kills, one block, and one service ace in the final eight points.
 
Heading to the final set, ENMU held all the momentum and energy with the Hounds taking an 8-1 lead in the final frame. In the streak, Puni provided a kill along with two back-to-back service aces. The Tigers kept the set alive, trading points with the Hounds. However, ENMU secured the final three points, with Stubbs finishing the match with a service ace, 15-8. After trailing 0-2, ENMU completed the 3-2 comeback over Ouachita Baptist.

NOTABLE STATS

• ENMU posted 52 kills, opposed to the 43 kills from the Tigers. Eastern also bested OUA in digs (70-60) and assists (48-41).
• Garvin led the Hounds with a match high 18 kills, with Stubbs adding eight and Puni posting seven.
• Jaylynn Nihipali ran the offense, finishing with 20 assists and Sapiga adding 14 assists.
• Carrasco covered the floor with 35 digs, while Nihipali posted seven digs.
• Puni and O'Connor-Dempsey each posted five blocks, with Garvin adding four blocks.

FROM THE SOURCE

"Our defense has been the difference maker. We might be one of the shortest teams at the tournament, but we play with a lot of heart and feed off each other," said Head Volleyball Coach Sia Poyer. "Jaylynn (Nihipali) did a great job stepping in with an injury, leading us in assists and helping us comeback against OUA. I hope we can keep this streak going, but especially or quality play," said Poyer.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Hounds bested the Rangers for the 2^nd time in program history, holding a 2-0 record against 2-0. Meanwhile, ENMU matched up with Ouachita Baptist for the first time in program history.
• Garvin posted a tied a career high 18 kills against the Tigers. Nihipali supplied a career high 20 assists in the win over Ouachita Baptist.
• Carrasco supplied a season best 35 digs against Ouachita Baptist, standing as the 6^th most digs in a single game in program history.
• As a team, Eastern set a season best in digs (70) and tied a season best in assists (48).
• Eastern look to finish up the weekend on a high note, battling East Central and Missouri Southern State. First serve against ECU is at 9 a.m., with the Hounds second match at 3 p.m.