ABILENE- Sul Ross volleyball fell in five sets to East Texas Baptist before winning in four sets against Belhaven to split day one of the second ASC crossover of the season Friday.
ETBU 3 - SRSU 2
Sully took the first set 25-21 before dropping the next two 26-24 and 25-23. The Lady Lobos took set four 25-18, but ETBU took the final set 15-11.
Both sides swapped leads early, but neither side could extend a lead to more than two going to the 11-11 mark.
A 5-0 Sully run gave them their largest lead thus far at 16-11. Kyleigh Mulanax totaled two kills during the run, while Autumn Kilpatrick also had one.
ETBU could come no closer than three the rest of the way as Mulanax finished with her fourth kill for the 25-21 win in set one.
The Lady Lobos first lead of set two came at 3-2 off a kill by Kirkpatrick.
Their largest lead of the set came at 7-4 off an ETBU attack error.
Down 10-8, a quick 3-0 Tigers run gave ETBU their first lead since 2-1.
Jordan Scherer tied the game with a kill, before an attack error gave the Lady Lobos their next lead at 12-11.
Set two proved to be back and forth as Annika Canaba gave Sully another slim lead at 13-12 with a kill.
ETBU used a 5-2 run to retake the lead, but the Lady Lobos answered right back with a 4-0 run for a two point lead of 19-17.
After losing the lead 21-20, Sully used a 3-1 run capped by two Canaba kills to lead again 23-22, but the Tigers ended on a 4-1 run to take set two 26-24.
Down 1-0 in set three, Scherer's two kills coupled with one by Canaba was part of a 5-0 run for a 5-1 Lady Lobo lead.
Later, a 4-0 run put Sully ahead 10-6 with Canaba providing two more kills.
Sully would hold on to their lead until ETBU used a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead 15-13.
The Lady Lobos were down by as many as five but were able to bring it to within a one point deficit at 24-23. The Tigers were able to get a kill and took set three 25-23.
Sully responded well and took an early 1-0 lead off a Katelyn Easley kill.
After a 1-1 tie, the Lady Lobos would take the lead and never surrender it again.
Up 13-12, a 5-0 run that included two more kills from Canaba put them ahead 18-12.
ETBU would only get as close as four and ultimately fall 25-18 as another Canaba kill forced a fifth set.
After Kylee Davis' service ace put Sully up 1-0 in swt five, ETBU scored five straight for a 5-1 lead.
The Lady Lobos would play from behind the rest of the way and fell 15-11 in the deciding set.
SRSU 3 - BEL 1
Sully started with a back and forth 27-25 win in set one before taking set two by a convincing score of 25-11. Belhaven fought back and took set three 26-25, but the Lady Lobos responded with a 25-23 win in set four to take the match.
Sully used a 4-0 run to erase an early deficit with the help of kills from Easely and Scherer for a 4-1 lead in set one.
The Lady Lobos held the first set lead until the Blazers used a 6-0 run to take an 11-10 lead.
Belhaven would hold their lead until the Lady Lobos rattled off a 5-1 run. Scherer started the run off with a kill. That was followed by a Stephanie Diaz service ace. Canaba then contributed a kill, followed by an attack error and then another kill from Canaba for an 18-17 lead.
The Blazers immediately took the lead back and would hold it until an attack error put the Lady Lobos back up 25-24.
Belhaven would tie the set at 25, but a Kilpatrick kill and Canaba service ace sealed the first set victory 27-25.
Trailing 1-0 in set two, Sully took control with an 8-0 run. Canaba totaled three kills during the run, Scherer had one, and Diaz notched three service aces for an 8-1 lead.
The Blazers brought it to within five at 12-7, before a 9-0 Lady Lobos run put them ahead 21-7. This run saw two kills from Kilpatrick and one apiece from Easley and Mulanax to help Sully cruise to the 25-11 set two win.
Neither side would hold a lead of more than two early in set three. That trend was broken when a 4-0 run put the Lady Lobos ahead 12-8.
Sully held that lead until a Belhaven 6-0 run put them ahead 23-21.
Canaba notched two more kills during an immediate 3-0 run to put the Lady Lobos back on top, but the Blazers answered back with their own 3-0 run for a 26-24 win in set three to avoid the sweep.
Set four saw Sully attack quickly for a 3-0 lead and Belhaven answer right back with a 4-0 run.
Down 10-8, the Lady Lobos attack sprang back to life with two kills each from Canaba and Scherer and another Diaz service ace to retake the lead 14-10 on a 6-0 run.
Belhaven used a few 3-0 runs to inch back to a 16-16 tie.
Both sides would take leads down the stretch, but neither led by more than one as Belhaven had a late 23-22 lead off a 4-1 run.
Sully used back-to-back kills by Canaba and an attack error to take set four 25-23 to win the match 3-1.
Canaba notched her fifth triple-double of the season with 30 kills, 12 assists and 14 digs. Her previous season-high came in the earlier game against Belhaven when she had 22. Her previous career-high was 23 twice in 2018.
Kylee Davis' game-high 31 assists was also a season and career high to go with 14 digs.
Four other Lady Lobos contributed double digit digs with 15 from Cielo Iniguez, 14 from Diaz, 11 from Nadia Valverde and 10 from Asher Haack.
With the split, Sully's record stands at 9-12 and 2-9 in conference.
The Lady Lobos finish the season's second crossover Saturday when they take on Louisiana College at 2:00 p.m. in Abilene.
