VOLLEYBALL: Centenary College prevails in hard-fought match against LeTourneau
SHREVEPORT, La. - The LeTourneau YellowJackets fell in a hard-fought match at Centenary College on Tuesday despite a match-high 13 kills from sophomore outside hitter Jo Runnels.
Scores of the match were 25-15, 26-24 and 25-18.
Runnels (Channelview, Texas/Channelview), the reigning East Division Offensive Player in the American Southwest Conference, knocked down 13 kills in 24 chances and finished the match with a .375 hitting percentage. She also added four digs and two block assists.
Shelby Singleton matched Runnels with 13 kills for the Centenary (8-7). Brooke Bahlinger added 10 kills for the Ladies.
Chelsea Bowers (Anaheim, Calif./Orange Lutheran) knocked down eight kills for the YellowJackets, while Shana Evans (Gladewater, Texas/Gladewater) chipped in with seven kills. Evans also tallied 10 digs for LeTourneau.
LeTourneau's Brooke Sheranko (Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge) handed out 27 assists to her YellowJacket teammates, matching her career-best against an NCAA opponent.
Sheranko also dished out 27 assists in last week's win over Sul Ross State, which is two shy of her overall career record set against NAIA opponent Williams Baptist College earlier this season.
Jessica Zabojnik (Burleson, Texas/Burleson) led the YellowJacket defensive effort with 13 digs.
The YellowJackets continued to show improved team play in spite of the match loss. After a ten-point setback in the opener, the Jackets showed plenty of fight in game two even after ceding the first for points of the set.
The visitors showed no signs of going away after falling behind 21-16 later in the set. With victory in Centenary's collective sight, the Jackets embarked on a 7-2 run. The Jackets reeled off five consecutive points to turn a 23-19 deficit into a 24-23 lead. Bowers had two kills during that stretch.
In turn, the Ladies responded with back-to-back kills of their own to reclaim a 25-24 lead. Play resumed after a LeTourneau timeout, only to conclude with the Ladies winning the set when the Jackets were whistled for a questionable ball-handling error that drew disagreement from the visiting crowd.
Centenary is in its first year of transitioning to the NCAA's Division III after fielding teams at the Division I level. Contests against the Ladies will not count in the league standings during the 2011-12 season.
The YellowJackets return to action Friday when they travel to Tyler to take part in the second weekend of the ASC's Dig Pink Crossover Challenge at UT Tyler. The Jackets open the event with a match against Hardin-Simmons at noon Friday, and then will face Concordia Texas at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday's action will pit LeTourneau against Howard Payne at 12:30 p.m. The YellowJackets will then conclude their weekend with a matchup against McMurry at 3 p.m. All weekend events are set to take place at the Herrington Patriot Center on the UT Tyler campus.
