The Basics
Game 1: Evangel 2, Our Lady of the Lake 3 | Box Score
Game 2: Evangel 1, Nelson 3 | Box Score
Record: Evangel (4-4), Our Lady of the Lake (4-8), Nelson (4-4)
Location: Waxahachie, Texas (Sheaffer Center)
WAXAHACHIE, Texas – Evangel Volleyball concluded the Texas Two-Step on Saturday (Aug. 29) afternoon, taking on Our Lady of the Lake and host, Nelson, aiming to finish the meet with a pair of wins. The Valor would battle against the Saints of OLLU, again needing five sets to determine a winner, but came up just short against their opponent. Having just played a nearly two and a half hour contest, Evangel quickly got back to work against Nelson and were unable to find a consistent groove in the game, dropping their matchup with the Lions, 3-1.
The Valor came to play early against OLLU, taking a 12-2 lead to open the game, as the Saints had no answer for strong serves from Addison Allen and kills from Cienna Turner. The Saints would battle back in the set, but could not overcome their slow start, as Charlotte Hawkins and Ashya Thompson closed out the period with a 25-13 win.
OLLU flipped the script on Evangel in set two, opening the game on an extended run to take a 13-7 lead over the Valor. As has been the norm for EU to start the year, the Valor would rally to tie the game up at 16-16, and even capture a late 23-22 lead on a Simone Johnson kill. Both teams would need to go past 25 points to find a winner, as the Valor had an opportunity, leading 27-26, to take a win in set two. OLLU responded late with a 3-0 run that crushed Evangel's chances in the set, as the Saints won, 29-27.
The beginning of the third set went point for point as both teams sat tied at 9-9. A 6-0 run from Evangel helped the Valor take the lead they needed, as EU would not relinquish their advantage behind kills from Jessica Pritchett and Turner, 25-18.
Evangel had a chance to put the game away in set four, leading 17-13 over the Saints, but OLLU would generate a 9-3 run to lead the Valor 22-20. A pair of OLLU attacking errors and a service error allowed EU to tie the game up at 23-23, but Evangel couldn't score the final two points of the set, as a service error and reception error killed EU's chances, falling 25-23, and forcing yet another five set contest.
The Valor dominated the start of the fifth and final set, taking a 9-6 lead over OLLU behind several Thompson kills. A 5-0 OLLU run hurt Evangel's momentum, forcing the Valor to trail 11-9, before a Johnson kill and Saint attacking error tied the game at 11-11. Needing to score in the race to 15 points, the Saints had all the answers late, using a 4-0 run to close the game in a 3-2 loss for Evangel.
After playing a long two and a half hour game less than an hour earlier, Evangel returned to action quickly against host school, Nelson. The Valor took advantage of a slow start from the Lions, as Nelson recorded 10 attacking errors in the first set to help the Valor take a 26-24 win in set one, as Thompson closed the period with a pair of kills.
Nelson jumped out to a 14-7 lead over Evangel in set two, but the Valor would again fight and attempt to draw back into the game, trailing just 14-12, midway in the set. Nelson was able to stymie Evangel's run, resulting in a 25-18 loss and tying up the game at a set a piece.
The same story followed in set three, as slow starts again hurt Evangel's chances, forcing the Valor to need to use massive runs to attempt to catch up. Despite trailing early, Evangel was able to battle and catch back up to the Lions lead, using several kills from Hawkins, but when needing the final late run, the Valor again could not score the final points, falling 26-24, after tying the game up at 24-24.
Fatigue set in in the fourth and final set of play on Saturday, as the Valor would never lead, falling behind early in a 25-14 loss in set four, dropping their final game of the Texas Two-Step to Nelson, 3-1.
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
Evangel Volleyball returns to action on the road on Tuesday (Sept. 1) evening, taking on longtime rival, College of the Ozarks, at 6:00 p.m., in Point Lookout.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play. Â
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