SEGUIN â€" After dropping a five-set thriller to the University of Texas at Dallas, the Texas Lutheran volleyball squad bounced back to beat Concordia Texas 3-1 Saturday evening at Tostengard Activity Center.
The Saturday split moved the Bulldogs' record to 6-3 on the year and 3-2 at home.
The SCAC/ASC Crossover was capped off with the Bulldogs' 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20) win over Concordia.
Against the Tornados, the Bulldogs used a scrappy defense and some timely offense to win, recording 87 digs compared to 77 for Concordia. The Bulldogs also got some key contributions from the service line, recording 10 aces in the match.
After winning the first two sets relatively handily, the Bulldogs dropped set No. 3 and fell behind 16-6 in the fourth set.
But just as it looked like momentum had begun to swing towards the Tornados, TLU embarked on an 18-2 run that pushed the Bulldogs all the way to match point at 24-16. The match was finished off with an emphatic kill by
Brette Threadgill.
Texas Lutheran had four players reach double-digit digs with
Megan Lee (Universal City, Texas) leading the way with 23 on the evening. The junior had a solid outing against Concordia, recording five assists, three aces and two kills to go along with those digs.
Manda Martin (Burnet, Texas) finished with a double-double, notching 16 digs to go along with her 20 assists. It was her third straight double-double and fifth of the season. She also tallied five kills on .444 hitting.
Threadgill (Sinton, Texas), a sophomore, was the only Bulldog to reach double digits in kills, tallying 12 and hitting .176. As a team, TLU hit .081.
In the Bulldogs' 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 9-15 loss to Texas Dallas, their comeback from down two sets fell just short.
The Comets held TLU to .080 hitting on the day and recorded 67 kills compared to 47 for the Bulldogs.
Texas Lutheran was led in that one by junior
Vanecia Spencer (Grandview, Texas), who topped the team with 15 kills on .100 hitting.
Martin was solid too, notching 34 assists and a season-high 24 digs to record the double-double.
Over the two matches, the Bulldogs also flashed a propensity for blocking shots, recording 16 total on Saturday. Leading the way in that category was
Mackenzie Benson (Cibolo, Texas). The freshman tallied five blocks over the two matches (one solo, four assisted). She also recorded 10 kills on .175 hitting.
After getting off to a solid 6-3 start in non-conference action, the Bulldogs will turn their attention to their inaugural SCAC competition next week. They will travel to Kerrville, Texas, home of Schreiner University, to open conference play against Schreiner at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20. The next day, still in Kerrville, they will take on Southwestern and Trinity at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
