ODESSA, Texas – Southeastern opened its Saturday action at the Dr. Steve Aicinena "Iceman" invitational in Odessa, Texas, with a commanding 3-0 win over University of the Southwest, but saw its day end with a 3-0 loss versus Eastern New Mexico.
The split moves the Savage Storm to 1-3 to open the season with its next action coming Sept. 2-3 in Edmond, Okla.
Southeastern jumped out in front early and stayed that way in its day two opener versus University of the Southwest en route to its first win of the season, 3-0.
D'Nari Mills led all attackers in the match with seven kills, while
Michera Moffett hit .667 and added six kills with
Jadyn James putting up six as well.
McKenzie Turkoly handed out 22 assists to lead the way while
Ruthie Forson added eight.
Defensively,
Patience Lewis posted a match-high 16 digs while
Amaya Constantino added 15, while at the net, Moffett would post three blocks while Mills would chip in a pair.
SE would break an early tie in set one by reeling off a 14-0 run under the serve of
Peyton Kriegel, pulling away for a 25-10 win in the set.
The momentum carried into set two where the Storm opened on a 15-4 run, this time primarily with Lewis serving, before cruising to a 25-14 win in the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the final set of the match, Southeastern would score the first five points and 11 of the final 14 to clinch the win with a 25-12 win in the third.
In the weekend finale, the Storm would pay the price for errors on offense despite Mills putting together seven kills to lead the way, while the team was bitten by 31 errors.
Maci Morrison followed with four kills, with Moffett and Forson posting three each.
Forson led the way in assists in the match for SE with 10, while Turkoly finished with six.
Lewis led the Storm on the back row again with 12 digs, while Morrison,
Faith Kruebbe, and Moffett each had two blocks.
The Storm found itself playing catch up in the first set after dropping the first three points, and after closing the gap to three points at 16-13, would see ENMU pull out to a 21-13 lead before taking the set 25-20.
Southeastern was unable to recover the momentum in set two as a pair of Greyhound runs would allow them to take the set 25-13 for a 2-0 lead.
In the third set the Storm would fight to a 15-15 tie, only to see ENMU take 10 of the final 12 points to swipe the final set 25-17.
