Aug. 29, 2003
New Page 1
BEAUMONT, TX-Lamar University spoiled the 2003 season opener
for The University of Texas-Pan American's volleyball team Friday night,
defeating the Lady Broncs, 30-19, 28-30, 30-26 and 30-16 in the first round of
the Subway Cardinal Classic at the Montagne Center.
After the teams split the first two games, the third game was
tied at 20 before the Cardinals pulled away for the victory to take a 2-1 lead.
"That was the key point of the match," said UTPA head Coach Dave Thorn. "They
pulled away one point at a time. We made too many mistakes, and we got a little
nervous, and they took advantage of it."
Freshman outside hitter Heather Bravo (Las Vegas, NV/Durango
HS) led the Lady Broncs. Bravo had 12 kills, eight digs, and hit .242. Junior
outside hitter Cathi Netemeyer (Los Fresnos, TX/Los Fresnos HS/Iowa) added 15
kills and 12 digs, and sophomore middle blocker Stephanie Redd (Seguin, TX/Seguin
HS) had 10 kills and four blocks.
Jessica Johnson led LU with 22 kills, no errors, 14 digs and
a .647 hitting percentage, while Bethany Johnson added 15 kills, six blocks and
a hitting percentage of .344. The Cardinals out hit the Lady Broncs, 314 to
.139, and had 10 blocks to Texas-Pan American's six.
"We just couldn't stop Jessica Johnson," said Thorn. "We
started out the first game like gangbusters, and they came back and beat us, and
then we won the second game and were right with them in the third game until
they pulled away at the end. It was the first game for a lot of our younger
players, so we'll come back and hope to play better tomorrow."
Texas-Pan American fell to 0-1 with the defeat, while host LU
improved to 1-0. The Lady Broncs will play North Texas and Lehigh Saturday on
the final day of the two-day tournament.
