Texans make westside road trip

BY JAXON HANSARD / Multimedia Journalist

Tarleton State University volleyball team was unable to beat Grand Canyon University in a 3-0 series sweep.  

This first match of this two-game conference road trip started on Sept. 28 where the Texans dropped their match against California Baptist University in Riverside, California.  

On the way back to Texas, they played their second conference game against Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona who is undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).  

Tarleton fought hard but came up short. This road trip was deemed unsuccessful, losing both games and dropping the Texans away record to 3-2

California Baptist started this two-game road trip where they handed Tarleton their first conference loss of the season dropping their record to 11-6 so far in the season and 2-1 In the conference.  

The Texans were riding high into this matchup coming off a six-game winning streak with their own Dr. Pam Littleton classic. This series ended in four games with Tarleton winning the first set but dropping the next three games to the Lancers.  

The purple and white offense crushed the first game, winning by nine-points. After the first set the defensive consistency left much to be desired.  

In Tarleton’s best effort against a superior team, they were swept on Sept. 30.  

The Lope’s dominance can be seen on paper with their now 4-0 conference record as well as their 11 total sweeps against opponents this season.  

The first set was an exciting shootout with GCU scoring early after the first serve but was quickly answered with a pair of kills from Breanna McDonough. While the game was back and forth, ultimately errors stumped the Texans from gaining a victory and extending the series.  

The purple and white made at least 13 more errors than GCU that night, both teams had very similar kill assist and ace totals but blocks along as the Lopes hitting percentage but them over the Texans for the series win.