Alisha Watson 9-4-14
Dave Clower
Alisha Watson (#2)

Volleyball

Volleyball Closes Tournament with Win Over New Orleans

Box Score

RUSTON, La. – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs volleyball team beat the New Orleans Privateers 3-1 to close out the LA Tech Invitational on Saturday at Thomas Assembly Center.
 
The Broncs (2-8) won the first set 25-22. After losing the second set 25-27, the Broncs came back to take the third set 25-20 and the fourth set 26-24.
 
Junior Haley Durham led the Broncs with 15 kills on .345 hitting with three blocks and three aces. Sophomore Alisha Watson had 11 kills with eight digs, two blocks and one ace.
 
Brooklyn Frank led the Privateers (4-6) with 12 kills. Mikay Sellers-Wiebe posted 11 kills with 10 digs. Cara Sander finished with 10 kills.
 
The Broncs went down 1-4 at the start of the first set, but the Broncs took advantage of three errors while Durham and Watson each recorded a kill to put the Broncs up 6-4. One point later, Durham had a kill and Watson served up an ace to put the Broncs up 8-5. The Privateers scored the next five points and the play stayed tight from there. The Broncs led 23-22 at the end, and after a timeout, Reynolds came up with a kill and then Watson and Durham combined on a block to put the Broncs up 1-0.
 
The Broncs trailed at the start of the second set as well, going down 1-5. They were still down four at 5-9, but that's when they made their move, going on an 8-1 run powered by a pair of kills by sophomore Anjané Janda to go up 13-10. The Broncs held that lead for much of the rest of the set, but up 22-21, the Privateers scored on back-to-back serves to take the lead. The Broncs came back to tie the set three times, at 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25, but Sander came up with consecutive kills to tie the match.
 
The Broncs took the early lead in set number three, going up 3-1 and then leading the rest of the way. The Broncs extended their lead to 10-6 on an ace by freshman Mary Kate Clark, and then 24-17 on an attack error at the end of an 8-1 run.
 
Janda had two quick kills as the Broncs jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth set, but the Privateers came back to take a 12-10 lead on a kill by Sellers-Wiebe. The Privateers extended their lead to 20-14 on another kill by Sellers-Weiebe, but after an error, sophomore Corynn Acuff and junior Maisy Munson combined on a block to spark an 8-0 run that saw the Broncs up 22-20. The Privateers scored the next two points to tie it up, but junior Diara Reynolds and Acuff recorded a block to give the Broncs the lead back. A Celeste Ramirez kill and a Sara Hammoutene ace gave the Privateers set point, but the Broncs tied it on an error, took the lead on a block by Watson and Acuff, and won it on an ace by senior Krysta Freitas.
 
The Broncs are back in action on Friday 3 p.m. when they open up the Corpus Christi Tournament against the University of Houston. 

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