THE RUNDOWN
DBU (5-1, 4-1) found its offense early and often in a 3-0 sweep over Midwestern State (3-10, 1-4) on Friday evening at the Burg Center in Dallas, Texas. Alyssa Parks recorded five blocks, while Halee Van Poppel notched a double-double with kills (13) and digs (11).
 
With both teams locked at 8 early in the opening set, the DBU offense turned to Van Poppel. The Belmont transfer notched each of the next four Lady Patriot kills, eventually opening up a 16-11 advantage. MSU would respond out of a timeout by taking four of the next five points. A handful of short runs by both teams kept things close, but DBU engineered the final two points of the set on a powerful attack from Van Poppel and a Kayla Brock service ace.
 
MSU began the middle frame by keeping pace with the Lady Patriots, with a pair of kills from Kaitlynn Stoker knotting the score up at 5-5. A swift 11-3 DBU run put some distance between the Lady Patriots and Mustangs, and coach Fish's squad pieced together another scoring stretch to gain a strong 2-0 lead. Seven Lady Patriots recorded a kill in the 25-16 win.
 
DBU didn't hold a lead in the third set until 22-21, as the Mustangs got into a rhythm and stacked up a 7-1 run at the midway point. With the Lady Patriots still trailing by three late, a well-timed block from Alyssa Parks and an illegal contact by MSU set the table for Audrey Nunes to tie things up. Following a Midwestern State timeout, Aryn Walton picked up an ace. Consecutive MSU points once again put DBU in a hole, and once again Parks stepped up with a crucial defensive play at the net. The senior from Houston chipped in another point on offense to give DBU a 24-23 edge, and then Van Poppel notched her 13th kill of the evening to give DBU the 3-0 sweep.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
 - With tonight's win, DBU has moved to 4-1 in conference play – the best start to conference play since the program joined the Lone Star Conference in 2019.
 - Halee Van Poppel continues her streak of leading DBU in kills, as the junior has paced the team on offense in all six matches this season.
 - Aryn Walton (17) and Kayla Brock (14) both reached double-digit assists for the third consecutive match.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8 – Blocks by the Lady Patriots.
5 – Number of DBU players that recorded a .333 hitting percentage or higher.
.500 – DBU's hitting percentage in the second set.

COACH JORDAN FISH ON THE TEAM'S COMPLETE PERFORMANCE
"I am so proud of my team and how they competed against a good Midwestern team. Pursuing big goals on a team that loves and trusts one another is fun – and we showed that tonight."
 
UP NEXT
DBU will stay at home to host Cameron at 1:00 pm CT on Saturday, October 2.