THE RUNDOWN
DBU (8-4) (1-1) took down Texas Woman's (5-6) (1-1) Tuesday evening inside the Burg Center.
Senior Emma Eakin had an outstanding performance posting a career-high 19 kills. Freshman Macey Winburn posted a career high in digs (13), aces (3), and points (5).
 
DBU struggled to get ahead of the Pioneers at the start of the first match staying within two points of the visiting team. TWU kept the pressure on the Lady Patriots to force the first timeout of the game leading 12-9. Two errors from DBU helped the Pioneers extend their lead to 14-10, but a kill and two attack errors helped the Lady Patriots to a 3-0 run to close the gap 14-12. Another kill via Emma Eakin and Carly Earnest led DBU back to a tied game at 15-15. DBU matched every point by the Pioneers to keep it a tied game, but it was a kill by Lexie Houston from Strealy Sizelove that forced Texas Woman's to take their first timeout at 17-16. Two more attack errors from the Pioneers put DBU ahead 19-16 to force another timeout. After the break, the Pioneers rallied back to close the gap for another tied game at 19-19. DBU maintained their momentum to win the first set, 25-22.
 
In the second set, both teams kept the scoring tight at the start, but DBU pulled ahead at 10-7 with another Eakin kill to force the first timeout. After the break three attack errors and two kills from Emma Eakin and Lexie Houston helped the team to a 5-0 run to lead 15-7. A Pioneer kill helped put a point on the board for TWU, but it wasn't enough to stop the DBU frontline. Leading 21-18, three errors from the Pioneers led DBU to match point, with a final kill by Carly Earnest to help the Lady Patriots win the second set, 25-19. The Lady Patriots put up 14 kills and a .205 hitting percentage compared to the Pioneers .000 in the second set.
 
In the third set, the Pioneers posted two errors to give DBU an early 6-2 lead. The Lady Patriots kept their momentum for a 4-0 run to lead 10-3 forcing TWU to take their first timeout of the set. The Lady Patriots kept the pressure on the Pioneers to put another point on the board.  TWU came back with a kill, but it wasn't enough to stop the DBU offense with Emma Eakin and Brooke Clark posting another kill to give the team a double-digit advantage over the Pioneers at 14-4. Two errors by the Lady Patriots and TWU kill helped the Pioneers close the gap to 14-7.  The Pioneers didn't give up posting another six points to bring the set to a two-point deficit to force a DBU timeout.  The Pioneers kept within a two-point range, but the Lady Patriots were able to find their rhythm again to lead 23-19.  Four attack errors from DBU helped the Pioneers come back to tie the game 23-23. It was a fight to the finish with both teams matching every point, but it was TWU who took the third set, 28-26.
 
The Lady Patriots came out strong in the fourth set to lead 9-4 ahead of TWU's first timeout. DBU kept their pace to post three more kills by Emma Eakin and Macey Winburn to get ahead 13-6. TWU came back to close the gap 13-10 after a series of kills to force a DBU timeout. The Lady Patriots kept up the fight to lead 16-13 after two errors and a kill from Carly Earnest going into a TWU timeout. Two errors and a couple kills helped DBU maintain their lead at 20-17.  The Pioneers rallied back at the end to a one-point deficit at 23-22, but it wasn't enough to stop the Lady Patriots who took the final set, 25-22.

KEY STORYLINES
-Strealy Sizelove led the team with 27 assists
-Emma Eakin posted a career-high 19 kills
-Three Lady Patriots posted double-digit kills with Macey Winburn posting a career-high 13
 
HEAD COACH CATHY KOKEL ON THE TEAM'S LEADERSHIP
"One thing we are working on is aggression, and that came into play tonight when we needed to get ahead. The leadership on the team helps us come out on top in these top games.  The leaders are able to execute where they need to execute and that's why the team is pulling ahead at the end."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
51- Total assists on the match
56- Total kills by the Lady Patriots
.213- Hitting percentage compared to the visiting teams .121
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots will travel to Laredo, Texas to face Texas A&M International Friday at 6:00 p.m.