Schreiner erases 7-point deficit in second set, sweeps Howard Payne

A week after letting a 2-0 lead get away in Brownwood, Schreiner made sure it didn’t happen again, sweeping Howard Payne 25-10, 25-23, 25-13 on Thursday night at Stephens Family Arena.

The Mountaineers improved to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the American Southwest Conference. The decisive stretch was the second set, when Schreiner trailed by as many as seven points and won 16 of the last 23 points.

Howard Payne led 10-4 in the second set and 16-9 after five straight points. Last week, Schreiner led 9-3 in the third set, 12-9 in the fourth and 7-1 in the fifth, and lost all three. This time the Mountaineers were the ones climbing back.

Two kills by Giana Hilliard and two Howard Payne errors made it 16-13, and Schreiner added another run late. After Howard Payne led 22-18, kills by Mackenzie Strban and Lauren Monaco, a service ace by Azalea De Leon and a kill by Kailan Servati tied it at 22-22. Servati’s only kill of the night was the tying one.

Howard Payne went back ahead 23-22. Hilliard then tied it with a kill and put Schreiner in front 24-23 with another, the Mountaineers’ first lead of the set since 2-1. An attack error by Howard Payne’s Londynn Whitworth ended it.

“We started getting our passing back on point, which led to our hitters,” Hilliard said of the second-set turnaround.

Hilliard, who hit .083 on a match-high 48 attempts in last week’s loss, hit .208 on 24 attempts and had a match-high 19 digs. Five of her six kills came in the second set.

The third set was never in doubt. Schreiner scored eight straight points after a 2-2 tie, led by as many as 12 and hit .212 to Howard Payne’s -.091. Ashlyn Willburn’s kill off a set from Gaby Torres ended the match.

The first set was just as lopsided. Schreiner hit .296 and held Howard Payne to 10 points. Asked about the second-set deficit, Jesse Garner pointed to that margin.

“We came in too high and they started playing a little bit better,” Garner said.

Schreiner hit .225 as a team (38 kills, 13 errors, 111 attempts). Howard Payne hit -.008, with 29 errors against 28 kills on 127 attempts. Howard Payne, which served nine aces in last week’s win, had none Thursday, while Schreiner had three. Schreiner also had a 66-58 edge in digs, a 37-26 edge in assists and a 10-7 edge in blocks (two solo, eight assisted).