V-Ball Lions fall prey to Scorpions

SAGU setting-up for stretch run

Cox battling through injury, leads in kills

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The volleyball team at Southwestern Assemblies of God University battled through an out-of-sync day against the University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College in a three-game setback.

Facing a second straight opponent from the Red River Athletic Conference without senior tower Krystal Cisneros (El Paso, Tx / Del Valle HS) made the challenge tougher. Along with an ailing 6-foot-1 sophomore, Kassy Cox (Lufkin, Tx / Lufkin HS), the Lions gallantly fought to hit .129. Only four times this season has the team’s attacking percentage been lower.

The Lady Scorpions claimed the match with scores of 25-16, 25-13 and 25-18. The combination of the Lady Lions lessened frontline and two UTB players hitting .611 and .522 was enough to spell the difference.

SAGU limited their most feared hitter, Danica Markovic, to eight kills and .250 hitting, her lowest kill total since their opener 19 games earlier. The 5’11 Serbian had seven in the season debut against Wiley College.

Caitlyn Hudson (Mansfield, Tx / Legacy HS) hit a team-best .333. It was the 5’10 junior’s third-highest effort this season. Taylor Calverley  (Mansfield, Tx / Grace Prep) set-up five different players with a double-figure amount of attempts. She finished with 23 assists and hit .286.

The hitters who strategically had their number called the most were Cox and Jessica Sodich (Ovilla, Tx / Ovilla Christian), with 23 and 18 tries respectively. Amanda Laney (New Braunfels, Tx / New Braunfels Christian) was third with 16 swings in the three sets. Hudson had 12 and Jessie Giese (Tulsa, Ok / Union HS) 11.

Defensively, Laura Espinoza (Duncanville, Tx / Duncanville HS) had a dozen digs, while Calverley and Hudson had five apiece.

Cox was mobile enough to lead the team with nine kills on Saturday. Between Friday and Saturday, Sodich and Cox had the table set for them 55 and 52 times. Laney added seven spikes for points.

Southwestern has six matches left in the regular season. The final four will be at home, where SAGU has had nine this fall. Each of the four will be aired by SAGU Sports Live in HD.

Nearing one Moore winning season

Coach Hank Moore’s team is currently 14-10 overall and 3-3 in league play. The Lady Lions are nearing their seventh consecutive winning regular season as well as a berth in the RRAC tourney next month.

Road Trip to East Texas

Southwestern will be out of town next weekend, travelling three hours to Marshall. On Friday, October 21, they will face Wiley College (13-7, 4-1 RRAC) in Alumni Gym at 7:00pm. The Wildcats are 43-25 in games this fall.

Over the past ten meetings, these two squads have played a handful of emotional clashes. SAGU is 4-6 against Wiley, winning 18 games to the Wildcats’ 24. Five times the match has gone the full, 5-set distance, with Southwestern coming out on top in three times.

The Purple Pride then face Texas College (3-15, 0-5 RRAC) in Tyler in a 1:00pm Saturday matinee. The Lady Steers are rebuilding this season, having beaten only Dallas Christian College three times. In individual games they are 11-61.

The Lady Lions have swept the Steers in seven straight meetings, and 8-of-9 dating back to 2005.

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 469-658-2847.