The St. Thomas Volleyball team split its matches on Day 1 of the East Texas Baptist University Tiger Invitational in Marshall, TX, pushing the Celts' overall record to 3-2 for the season.
The Celts earned their third win of the season in their first game of the day against Hardin-Simmons. The Celts needed four sets to achieve the victory over Hardin Simmons; 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, and 25-13.
In their second Match of the day, UST dropped a hard-fought battle to #25 East Texas Baptist University in a four-set match; 20-25,25-21,19-25 and 21-25.
UST vs HSU
In the opening match vs. Hardin Simmons, junior Audrey Cataline led the way with 12 kills while contributing to the Celt defense with 8 digs. Teammate Alexis Bodunrin added 11 kills and 3 digs, while transfer Jazilyn Davis added 6 kills. Kara Spice once again led the defensive effort with 20 digs. Ally Peters continued her strong start to the season with 17 digs. Always solid, Kendall Howard supported the defense with 11 digs.
The match started slow for St. Thomas as they found themselves trailing 9-3, before Coach Keanne Burt took a timeout which ignited a rally and an eventual 25-20 first set win. St. Thomas followed the first set with an identical 25-20 set two victory. In the third set, the Celts faced pushback from Hardin Simmons and ultimately fell 25-21. St. Thomas sealed the victory with a dominating 25-13 fourth set.
UST vs ETBU
After a quick turnaround, UST did not have much time to prepare for the #25 nationally ranked home team Tigers.
East Texas jumped out to a lead with a 25-20 victory in Set 1, before the Celts evened things up at 1 set each, winning the second set 25-21. However, the Tigers got the next two sets and a 4-set victory.
Alexis Bodunrin led the Celts with 12 kills, while senior Laynee Beam contributed 9 kills and Audrey Cataline added 7 kills. Cataline joined Kara Spice with a team-leading 19 digs.
Up Next
The Celts are looking to refocus and finish strong as they compete on the second day of the ETBU Invitational. St. Thomas plays Huntington on Saturday at 11 AM and Willamette at 5 PM.
