Win streak reaches eight with Eagles' sweep of Philander Smith

The victory train keeps rolling for A&M-Texarkana, whose win streak now sits at eight following Wednesday's non-conference win over Philander Smith College at the Patterson Center. The Eagles (13-5 overall) needed less than 90 minutes to put away the visiting Panthers (5-7) with a win in straight sets: 25-17, 25-17, 25-16.

Philander Smith was held in the negative on the attacking side, totaling just 18 kills and 20 errors on 91 attacking opportunities for a hitting percentage of just -.022, while the Eagles took advantage of numerous miscues and improved to 3-0 at home and won for the 13^th time in 15 matches.

A total of 14 players saw action for TAMUT, with eight of those playing in all three sets of the sweep. Alanna Deering led the team with seven kills and Katherine Toftemark needed just nine opportunities to put down six kills for a hitting percentage of .667. Ja'Kerra Holt and Mia Mata each had five kills.

Kimberlee Joyce set 14 of the Eagles' 32 assists, with Jordan Dewberry adding eight. Faith Herrera – along with Holt – had three service aces. Madison Arrieta led the team with 13 digs while Colleen Kilgore and Joyce each added eight. Toftemark had a team-high three blocks.

The Eagles controlled the first set from the start and cruised to a 1-0 lead, but Philander fought back in the second, leading 13-12 before the Eagles ripped off a 10-1 run to take an insurmountable 22-14 lead. The Eagles built leads of 15-9 and 19-11 in the third and final set before closing the book on the Panthers.

A&M-Texarkana stays home this weekend for a big conference series against Louisiana Christian (6-2 overall, 2-2 RRAC) with matches at 6 pm on Friday and noon Saturday.