CANYON, Texas – Redshirt sophomore
Cindy Garcia blasted 12 kills on 19 attempts for a .632 hitting percentage to lead Adams State to its first win of the 2022 season, a convincing 25-18, 25-23, 25-17 sweep over St. Mary's (TX) to close the Britkare Lady Buff Classic.
As a team, ASU hit .255 to surpass its previous season-best total just one match before, with
Natalie Gallegos joining Garcia with 11 kills to give ASU the match's only players with double-figure kills.
The Grizzlies improve to 1-3 on the year, while keeping the Rattlers winless at 0-4.
ASU jumped out early in the opener, taking a 9-3 lead in the first set behind the strong serving of
Riley Rabedeaux, and maintaining that margin the rest of the set in the 25-18 win.
Garcia was on fire, at one point putting away seven balls on eight attempts to give ASU an early confidence boost, including the final point in the frame.
STM looked to even the match in set two, taking an early 6-2 lead and a 12-8 edge deeper into the frame. Behind
Madeleine Benally's serve, however, ASU scored six of the next seven points to regain the lead, foreshadowing the momentum swings to come.
St. Mary's responded in turn, going on an 8-2 spurt to seemingly take control of the set with a 21-16 lead, just four points from evening the match.
That all changed after the Rattlers' committed a service error, putting
Anna Huggins at the service line. And serve Huggins did, rattling off six-straight points to knot the set at 22-22, bringing momentum back to ASU.
After STM broke the tie with a service ace, a Rabedeaux kill and a Rattler attack error gave ASU set point, and Garcia and Benally put an exclamation point on the win with a block assist, giving the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead.
With ASU riding its wave, the Grizzlies shot out to a 9-1 lead to open set three behind Benally's stellar serving, only to have St. Mary's mount a comeback, cutting its deficit to just 14-10. Bugas, however, continued ASU's stellar effort at the service line, gaining a pair of points to give the Grizzlies breathing room at 17-10.
STM mounted another rally to creep closer at 18-15, but Rabedeuax again came through at the service line with two aces to bring ASU to a 22-15 lead, ultimately taking the set 25-17, and the match, 3-0.
Garcia added 7.0 blocks in the win, while the ASU defense held STM to just .058 from the floor.
Adams State travels to Lubbock next weekend for the Lubbock Christian University Invitational, taking on Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday, September 1, at 6 p.m. (CT).
