The WTAMU Lady Buffs opened their season with four wins at the Lady Buff Classic. The event took place on Sept. 2 and 3. WT’s first game came against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats, followed by matches against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions, the Missouri Western Griffons, and the Western State College Mountaineers.
The Lady Buffs got their first win of the tournament and season Friday morning against SBU. WT swept the match in three sets, 25-19, 25-19, and 25-2. The Lady Buffs’ impressive performance in the third set came as a surprise to many, including their coach.
“I didn’t see it coming. We were getting better as the set went along,” Coach Jason Skoch said.The second game of the day provided a quite different challenge for WT. The UCCS Mountain Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead with scores of 25-21 and 25-23. The Lady Buffs rallied by winning the third and fourth sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-18. The fifth and deciding set had the crowd on the edge of their seats. WT and UCCS were neck-and-neck until the Lady Buffs grabbed a 15-12 win.
“We felt we were more stable and in shape to play later in games, and plus the home crowd was awesome,” said sophomore outside hitter Halie Harton of the factors contributing to WT’s rally.
WT continued their winning ways Saturday afternoon with a sweep of Missouri Western. The Lady Buffs took the first two sets 25-12 and 25-16. The Griffons put up a much tougher fight in the third set, going back-and-forth with the Lady Buffs until WT rallied to take the set 27-25.
The final game of the tournament saw the Lady Buffs sweep Western State College. WT posted scores of 25-19, 25-22, and 25-9 for a 4-0 on the season. The win also extended the Lady Buffs’ winning streak in The Box to 15 straight. Junior outside hitter Stormi Lancaster was named the tournament co-MVP, along with Angelo State’s Alex Woosley.
The Lady Buffs will defend their 83-game LSC winning streak Sept. 6 against the Cameron Aggies in Lawton, Okla. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
