Schreiner snaps 11-match skid to Hardin-Simmons, ends its own four-match slide

Schreiner beat Hardin-Simmons 25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15 on Thursday at Stephens Family Arena, snapping an 11-match losing streak against the Cowgirls that dated to 2010 and ending the Mountaineers’ own four-match skid in the same afternoon. It was also Schreiner’s first American Southwest Conference win of the season.

Schreiner improved to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in the ASC. Hardin-Simmons, which had won three straight entering the match, fell to 10-6 overall and 1-1 in the ASC.

The gap in hitting efficiency was stark and ran the opposite direction of Schreiner’s recent matches: the Mountaineers hit .181 as a team — 52 kills against 21 errors on 171 attempts — while Hardin-Simmons managed just .036, going 37 for 166 with 31 errors. Schreiner led wire-to-wire in the first two sets, building 0-4 and 9-4 runs in the opener and never trailing in the second. Hardin-Simmons found its only real traction in the third, building a 15-6 lead before Schreiner clawed back within three before falling 25-22. Schreiner closed it out in the fourth, pulling away from a 1-1 tie with an 8-1 run.

Schreiner leaders

Giana Hilliard led all players with 12 kills and a team-high 14.0 points, hitting .159 on a match-high 44 attempts to go with a team-high 15 digs. Lauren Monaco was Schreiner’s most efficient hitter, going 9 for 18 with two errors for a .389 clip and 14.5 points, and added a team-high four service aces. Jesse Garner added eight kills and a team-high four block assists for 10.0 points, and Mackenzie Strban chipped in seven kills. Emma Frye and Ashlyn Willburn each had six kills, with Frye adding a block solo and five block assists.

Harlie Gallaspy ran the offense with 22 assists and an ace, and Gaby Torres added 19 assists. Maleyci Soliz and Gallaspy each had 13 digs, with Azalea De Leon adding 10.

Hardin-Simmons leaders

Avery Tumlinson was the Cowgirls’ most efficient hitter by a wide margin, going 11 for 20 with three errors for a .400 clip and a team-high 11.5 points — more than double the next-closest Hardin-Simmons hitter. Rachel Nordt added eight kills for 8.0 points, and Ellie Carter chipped in four kills with two service aces for 7.0 points. Allison O’Shaughnessy ran the Hardin-Simmons offense with 19 assists, and libero Brylee Pursley led all players with 23 digs.

Box score

	Sets	K	E	TA	Pct	Ast	Ace	Dig	Pts
Hardin-Simmons	1	37	31	166	.036	35	4	83	46.0
Schreiner	3	52	21	171	.181	46	7	92	69.0

What it means

Coach Jeremiah Tiffin had made no secret of what was behind Schreiner’s four-match losing streak — Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Mary Hardin-Baylor, East Texas Baptist and Southwestern — and what ended it Thursday.

“It means a lot,” Tiffin said of the win, Schreiner’s first over Hardin-Simmons since 2010. “We talked about not having beaten Hardin-Simmons before, and we knew what we needed to do — work on serve and pass. We did that, and we controlled the game when we did that. It was a good win.”

On the four-match skid: “It was tough opponents — the teams we played have been top 25, borderline. They’re good teams. We just never put it together for a long period of time to be successful. Today we did that. We didn’t let the other team go on runs. In the third set we kind of did, but other than that we sided out really well, and that’s the difference.”

Asked about Schreiner’s response after falling behind by nine in the third set, Tiffin credited the group for not letting the deficit snowball into a fourth straight loss: “We gave ourselves too big of a hole. But we responded really well, and we challenged them — we can’t dig this hole again — and credit to the team, they did their job.”

Looking ahead to Schreiner’s quick turnaround, Tiffin pointed to the same fundamentals that turned the match: “Just keep working on serve and pass. If we get that, our blocking’s getting better, and then our offense will come after that. If we keep doing those three things, we’re going to be all right.”

Series notes

Thursday’s win moves Schreiner to 4-25 all time against Hardin-Simmons, snapping an 11-match losing streak in the series dating to 2010. It’s a small dent in an otherwise lopsided stretch for Schreiner against the ASC field it has faced during its four-match slide: East Texas Baptist leads that series 12-2, Southwestern leads 27-4, and Mary Hardin-Baylor leads 15-10.

Schreiner is right back on the floor Friday at 5 p.m., hosting McMurry. The Mountaineers have won six of their last eight meetings with McMurry but trail 11-32 in the all-time series.