Aggie Volleyball finished out their season on the road this week, taking an 0-3 loss to Lubbock Christian.—Sarah Brady photo
Box Score Lubbock, Texas—In their final game of the 2016 season Panhandle Volleyball fell in a three-set surge (25-16, 25-11, 25-10) by the Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps Thursday evening.
The Aggies totaled ten kills in their first set, but were held to just 11 kills combined in sets two and three as LCU leads the league in Opponent Hitting Percentage averaging .127 on the year; the Aggies averaged .009 for the match. Freshmen
Melody Ethley and
Kendra Butler were Panhandle's leading scorers in set one; Ethley earned three points on kills and Butler totaled two kills and one service ace in the set. The Lady Chaps totaled 15 kills and one ace against the Aggies and gave up five points on two attack errors, two ball handling errors and one bad set.
Errors plagued Panhandle in the remaining two sets as the Aggies committed four service errors, two ball handling errors and six errors on the attack in set two; set three saw the Aggies give up 12 points on seven attack errors, three ball handling errors, one service error and one blocking error. LCU also added points with ten kills in the second set and 13 in the third.
For the game Butler finished as the Aggies' leading scorer with 6.5 points off five kills, one ace and one block assist. Junior setter
Julia Ibarra was the teams' second-highest scorer with four kills in the match; Ibarra led the team in assists with 14 and tied the team-high in digs with eight. Senior
Emily Goeken also totaled eight digs in the game and added points with two kills. Christiana Tavo held the game-high in scoring with kills and on block assist for Lubbock Christian. Mallory Powell led the Lady Chaps in assists with 19 and Kelsie French contributed with 18 digs, each earning game-highs.
Lubbock Christian will head to the Heartland Conference Tournament for post-season play with an 18-10 overall record. The Lady Chaps finished as the league's second-ranked team going 11-3 in conference play, only behind an undefeated UA Fort Smith team (14-0 HC). The Aggies end with a disappointing 0-14 record within the conference and a season record of 3-25. Records do not always indicate ability, and the Aggies put in many fine performances this season and look to return many strong players next year.
