Oklahoma City, OK --- The Lady Rams volleyball team began the 2007 season competing in the Oklahoma City Classic hosted by Oklahoma City University dropping all four matches but had opportunities to win a couple against some top ranked teams in the region.
HT opened against Dakota Wesleyan University from South Dakota losing in three sets 19-30, 22-30, 30-32. Freshman Tiffany Deba led the Lady rams with 9 kills and 3 blocks with offensive help from senior Dominique Green who added 6 kills and 2 blocks. Junior setter Adrienne Ringer had 22 assists and 2 aces while sophomore libero Stephanie Castro led the defense with 15 digs and contributed 3 aces to the offense. Amanda Paidle added 6 digs and 2 aces to help keep the Lady Rams in the match
The Lady Rams next played Wayland Baptist University who is ranked nineth in Region VI dropping three sets again 20-30, 13-30, 20-30. Senior middle Ashley Wright led the team in kills with 5 and added 4 digs on defense. Green helped with 4 kills and 1 block along with Deba’s 4 kills. Ringer had 14 assists and 1 ace while freshman Yessenia Pena had 6 digs and 1 ace.
The next day saw the Lady Rams playing Oklahoma Wesleyan University and winning the first set but losing the match 1-3, 21-30, 26-30, 30-28, 26-30. HT led in both sets two and four but let the lead slip away at the end of the set. Senior outside hitter Green had a career match high of 23 kills while Wright added 7 kills to lead the offense. Ringer directed the offense with 39 assists and 4 aces while Castro had 24 digs and 3 aces. Senior defensive specialist Lauren Westerman and Paidle add 10 digs apiece and Deba got her jump serve going with 3 aces.
The Lady Rams finished the tournament against Oklahoma City University who is the preseason favorite to win the Sooner Athletic Conference and ranked second in Region VI losing 23-30, 24-30, 16-30. The match was much closer than the score shows with multiple long rallies in each set. Green and Deba led the offense with 7 and 5 kills respectively while Castro and Paidle supplied the defense with 11 and 7 digs. Ringer had 13 assists with Wright controlling the net with 3 blocks.
Recap of the tournament --- The Lady Rams are now 0-4 for the season. Green and Wright led the Lady Rams offense averaging 3.33 and 1.77 kills per game while Ringer and Castro added 8 and 6 aces for the tournament. Wright and Deba controlled the net with 7 and 4 blocks and Castro and Paidle took care of the back row with 4.38 and 2.36 digs per game.
Next Opponent: The Lady Rams host NCAA III Schreiner University for their first home match on Monday, September 3rd at 6:30 pm in Mary E Branch Gymnasium on the HT campus.