Tigers Complete Tour of Texas

Fort Worth, Tx - The Wesleyan Hughes Classic Volleyball Tournament concluded on Saturday with two matches for the Golden Tigers, first against Texas-Brownsville who swept them by scores of 25-8, 25-8, 25-16 and a great match with Southwestern Assembly of God that went the distance before the Tigers succumbed 20-25, 29-27, 25-18, 22-25, 7-15.

In the first outing, Melissa Thornton had six kills to lead in that category and Mekenna Cipres and Kerry Abernathy collected six assists apiece. Meredith Hardin had six blocks and Natalie Beth Hayes came up with five.

The Tigers offense came alive against Southwestern with Thornton leading the way with 13 kills. Alexis Arthur (10), Courtney Frady (10), Hays (9) and Meredith Hardin (7) were also active at the net. Sophomore Setter Mekenna Cipres had 22 assists and her counterpart Kerry Abernathy had 17. Libero Danelle Russell had 26 digs.

Even though the team was unable to win over the two day event, Coach Meredith Franklin was encouraged by the progress made, saying "We were exposed to some teams and skills tht we are not accustomed to seeing in our conference. We have grown smarter and stronger as a team. The only thing now we need to do is learn how to finish it. In most of the matches we went neck and neck with the teams, and just let off at the end."

The Tigers will continue tournament play next weekend with a two day event at Francis Marion University in South Carolina.