Cowgirls Beat McMurry To Advance To ASC Final

Boxscore

RICHARDSON, Texas — Hardin-Simmons’ volleyball team advanced to the final of the American Southwest Conference Championship with a 25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 25-19 win over McMurry in semifinal action Friday night at the UTD Activity Center in Richardson.

It did not take the Cowgirls long to take control of the match. The first game was tied at 13 when the Cowgirls went on a 12-3 run to end the game. The Cowgirls big three attackers = seniors Kaela Parnell and Chelsie Fowler and freshman Madison Reyes - were big for HSU in the first game, combining for 13 kills in the first game.

It was more of the same in game two. After it was tied at 3-3, HSU used three Reyes kills in a 9-3 run to make it 12-6 and the Cowgirls never trailed again in the game.

McMurry battled its way through game three led by a strong game from freshman M.J. Vickers and Bennie Smith.

In the fourth game, McMurry took an early 10-5 lead but the Cowgirls battled back. First there was a 10-2 run that gave HSU a 15-12 lead. In that run McMurry had four attacking errors. McMurry then closed it to 18-16, before a 5-1 Cowgirl rally put the game out of reach.

Parnell hit .531 in the match for the Cowgirls with 18 kills on just 32 swings. Reyes had 14 kills and Fowler added 12. The Cowgirls hit .263 in the match, while holding McMurry to a .107 hitting percentage. Bennie Smith led McMurry with 13 kills and Danielle Kelton had 12.

Defensively, the Cowgirls were led by Graven Harris who had 28 digs. Diona Massey and Madison Reyes each had five assisted blocks for the Cowgirls and Fowler led a strong service night for HSU with five aces. Erin Davis had 26 assists and Sam Lucien added 21 assists and 12 digs for the Cowgirls.

Hardin-Simmons moved to 22-6 on the year with the win and will face undefeated Texas-Dallas in the ASC final. The Cowgirls will be looking for their second ASC volleyball title. Parnell and Lucien were members of the last ASC title by HSU in 2006.

McMurry had upset East Texas Baptist on Friday afternoon to reach the semifinals. McMurry ended its season with a record of 18-12 and HSU won all three meetings between the two teams this season.
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