Lubbock Christian downs Zias

PORTALES — Lubbock Christian, ranked No. 24 in NAIA volleyball, continued its hot streak Tuesday night with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 victory over Eastern New Mexico University at Greyhound Arena.

The Lady Chaps (18-1), extended their match winning streak to 12. The last six of those have been by 3-0 counts.

Still, they got a bit of a challenge from the Zias (5-14), who led in every game and played competitively for the most part.

Sophomore middle blocker Elissa Loynes collected 12 kills with just two attack errors for the Lady Chaps. Senior outside hitter Nicole Vanderploeg and sophomore outside hitter Veronica Valdez had seven kills apiece for ENMU.

The Zias led 2-0 in the first game on kills by freshman Jessica King and Vanderploeg before the Lady Chaps opened a five-point margin. ENMU closed to 12-10, but LCU took control with a 5-0 run capped by kills from April Severyn and Suzanne Childress and an ace by Kelsey Odell.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second game until Childress’ kill put Lubbock Chrsitian up 20-16. The Zias got back to 24-22 before an attack error by Valdez gave the Lady Chaps game point.

The Zias opened a 5-3 lead in game three on sophomore Grace Brandt’s kill, but LCU scored the next six points to take the lead for good. ENMU got within two points again, but a 7-0 run featured three kills by Odell and gave the Lady Chaps plenty of cushion.

ENMU returns to action on Saturday, facing Texas A&M-International at 10 a.m. and host Texas Woman’s at 6 p.m. in Denton, Texas.