V-Ballers brush off Rams, 3-0

Third straight sweep for Lady Lions

Winners of 5-of-6, SAGU takes on St. Thomas

AUSTIN, Texas -- Southwestern Assemblies of God University swept their third straight volleyball match on Friday night, 3-0, over Huston-Tillotson University.

In breezing to three quick victories; 25-17, 25-13 and 25-15, the Lady Lions upped their overall won-lost ledger to 10-8 and their league mark to 2-1 in the Red River Athletic Conference.

They are currently in fourth place in the RRAC, trailing only #1 ranked UT-Brownsville (16-0, 2-0), University of St. Thomas (10-5, 2-0) and Wiley College (11-7, 3-1).

Parlaying the contributions of 14 players, the Lady Lions blasted the Lady Rams, outhitting them .357 to .188. It was the team’s best accuracy in attacks this season, topping the .289 they swung during a September 3rd tournament sweep of Schreiner University (Tx).

Power brokers ring up the numbers

The Purple Pride was again led by frontline forces, junior Caitlyn Hudson (Mansfield, Tx / Legacy HS) and freshman Jessica Sodich  (Ovilla, Tx / Ovilla Christian). Hudson, leading the team in spikes for the third time in a row, smacked nine kills and hit .438. Sodich busted seven and hit .308.

Amanda Laney (New Braunfels, Tx / New Braunfels Christian) racked up five kills and swung a .400 right arm. Tina Brown (New Braunfels, Tx / Lifegate Christian) was 4-for-4 in kills, while Kassy Cox (Lufkin, Tx / Lufkin HS) and Jessie Giese (Tulsa, Ok / Union HS) also registered four. The latter, Giese (prounounced GEES, as in ducks), required only eight attempts.

Taylor Calverley (Mansfield, Tx / Grace Prep) piled up 25 assists in the three games, before yielding to Carleigh Dollar (Brock, Tx / Brock HS), who made four sets.

After sparking her team to a comeback win earlier in the week by utilizing her sharpening jump-serve, Devan Guynes (Red Oak, Tx / Red Oak HS) fired a half dozen aces at the Lady Ewes. Brown, and Calverley had two, and Hudson one.

Showing their defensive prowess, the Lady Lions made like archeologists by dominating in digs, 50-24.

Laura Espinoza (Duncanville, Tx / Duncanville HS) and Calverley were credited with eight; while Guynes made six, Laney and Brittany Briggs (Maypearl, Tx / Maypearl HS) five apiece.

Brown, Hudson and Alissa Kirk (Pataskala, Oh / Gahanna HS) salvaged four digs each.

Saturday matinee in Rocketown

 SAGU will take on St. Thomas in the Jerabeck Athletic Center in Houston. The best-of-five match is set for a 2:00pm first serve. The Celts defeated Texas Wesleyan, 3-1, in Rocketown on Friday.

Southwestern has split with UST the past two seasons.

The Lady Lions and Celts (pronounced Kelts) enter this match having won five of their previous six. SAGU has a 16-5 mark in those games, while UST is 16-4 during the same span. For the season, the ‘Cats are 38-31 in actual games. St. Thomas is 31-20.

SAGU returns home on Tuesday, October 4, when they will host Southwestern Christian University (Ok) at 7:00pm. Currently, the Eagles are 7-7.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde , Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.