LeTourneau University – Sports

WOMEN’S SOCCER

LONGVIEW, Texas – Playing in their third consecutive American Southwest Conference Tournament, the LeTourneau University women’s soccer team will take on top seed and No. 5 nationally-ranked Hardin-Simmons University in the opening round in Abilene, Texas on Tuesday, October 31 at 2:00 p.m.

It will be the second meeting of the YellowJackets and Cowgirls this season with both games coming at the HSU Soccer Complex in Abilene. Last time these two squads met on the pitch, Hardin-Simmons came away with a 6-0 victory on September 21.

Hardin-Simmons is making their league-leading 20th consecutive tournament appearance, having won the past 14 ASC Conference Tournaments. LETU will be making their fifth appearance in the ASC Tournament all-time and will be looking for their first postseason win in school history.

The matchup will feature a rematch of last year’s opening round ASC Tournament match, which saw HSU come away with a 3-0 victory over LETU.

LeTourneau comes into Tuesday’s matchup with a 9-6-3 overall record having won three of the last four games they played with the lone loss coming on the road at the University of Texas-Dallas by a score of 1-0.

Sophomore Kelli Sonnier leads the LeTourneau charge with six goals on the year while freshman Jennifer Martin has a team-high 14 points (4 goals, six assists. Senior Carrye Funk will look to continue her record-breaking season as the Lake Jackson, Texas, native set a single-season school record with six shutouts this season.

Live stats will be available at the link below as well as a link to a full rundown of this year’s ASC Tournament including all eight participating teams.

VOLLEYBALL

SHREVEPORT, La. Playing a pair of schools that they have already seen this season, the LeTourneau University volleyball team dropped a three-set match to Austin College before falling in five sets to host Centenary College on the Centenary College Halloween Tournament at the Gold Dome in Shreveport, LA on Saturday, October 28.

Under first-year head coach Ashley Tiernan, the YellowJackets conclude their 2017 campaign with an overall record of 10-22, a one win improvement over the 2016 record of 9-24.

The first match against Austin College saw LETU take an early 4-1 lead before the Roos came storming back to tie the game at 6-6. A 10-1 AC run would allow for the Roos to double up LeTourneau at 14-7 before the YellowJackets managed to fight again within four points at 17-13. Another run by Austin College would see the set end on a 9-2 run as Austin College took the set by a score of 25-15.

A closer second set saw things stay close early on before Austin College would open up a lead midway through the game. Trailing by a score of 17-10, LETU would use a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 21-15 in favor of AC and to within four at 24-20 after fighting off two set points, but the Roos would come away with a 25-20 set victory.

Trailing two sets to zero, LETU managed to take an early lead and maintain to hold onto it for a majority of the game, leading by as many as five at 11-6. Four straight points by Austin College closed the match to 21-18 in favor of LeTourneau before the game became tied at 23-23 on a service ace by Katie Ingle. AC would score the final two points of the game as part of a 5-0 run that closed out the match with the set going to Austin College 25-23.

The YellowJackets would be led by senior Elyse Wright in the match with eight kills while Torie Langston had two service aces. Korissa White dished out 16 set assists while Audrey Galindo had 16 digs.

The final match of the day against Centenary would get off to a very rough start for LeTourneau as the Ladies managed to take the first set by a score of 25-9. Centenary would score 12 of the final 13 points of the set while limiting LeTourneau to just five kills in the game.

Another lousy start in the second set saw the host Ladies score the first four points of the game and manage to hold their lead throughout as LETU could never fully recover from an early deficit. A timeout by the YellowJackets, trailing 17-13, would provide a much-needed spark for LeTourneau. It was a part of a 4-0 run that would tie the match at 17-17, but that would be as close as LETU would get as the score would quickly go to 23-19 in favor of Centenary before a final score of 25-22 going to the Ladies.

Things would finally start to break in favor of LeTourneau in the third set as the YellowJackets would open up a 10-5 lead over Centenary early on before seeing the Ladies battle back to tie the match at 13-13. Centenary would continue their run to take a 17-14 lead before three of the next four points broke in LeTourneau’s favor to close back within a point at 18-17. LeTourneau would score seven of the final eight points part of their first set win of the day by a score of 25-22.

The YellowJackets would once again take an early set lead by building a 10-4 lead in the fourth set. They kept their foot on the pedal as Centenary would be ahead the only time of the match at 2-1. Following a 4-0 run to open up the six-point lead for the YellowJackets, LeTourneau would not let the Ladies get any closer than three at 18-15 before pulling away for a 25-16 set win with White at the service line for the final five points of the game.

A winner-take-all fifth set saw LETU use a 5-0 run to open up a 7-3 lead over Centenary force a timeout by the Ladies with the score 9-4 in favor of the YellowJackets. The timeout managed to flip the momentum back over to Centenary as four of the next six points would be scored by the Ladies to cut the gap to 11-8 and force a LeTourneau timeout. Centenary would continue their run following the LETU timeout, managing to tie the match at 12-12 and force a second LeTourneau timeout as the Ladies managed to win the game by scoring the final three points of the set.

An abundance of service aces would be in the match, with Centenary recording a game-high ten compared to nine for LETU. The YellowJackets would hold a 6-5 lead in blocks while forcing 27 Centenary attack errors.

Freshman Hailey Matthews would record a double-double in the match with 11 kills and 12 digs while Stutts had five kills and three blocks. A game-high 19 digs and three service aces would be recorded by junior Liz Williams while White added 24 set assists to close out her LeTourneau career with 1,271 set assists (fourth-most in school history).

MEN’S SOCCER

BROWNWOOD, Texas – A rapid start to the game would see the LeTourneau University men’s soccer team found themselves in a 2-0 hole just five minutes into the game, eventually falling by a final score of 4-1 at Citizens National Bank Field in Brownwood, Texas on Saturday, October 28.

The loss ends the LETU season with an overall record of 3-9-4 and 3-6-2 in the American Southwest Conference while HPU improves to 6-8-0 and 4-7-0 in the ASC.

Howard Payne would open the game on a counterattack following a shot by freshman Porfirio Benitez that would hit the crossbar and turn the attack into a goal to take a 1-0 lead just 2:45 into the game. A shocked LeTourneau squad would quickly see the game turn into a two-goal deficit as consecutive fouls by LETU would allow Howard Payne to take a pair of free kicks which would lead to a goal just past the five-minute mark.

The scoring explosion would continue just five minutes later when David Sanchez would let off a shot that would force HPU goalie Nicholas Panameno to make a save and give up a corner kick to LETU that Eduardo Barron would take. Barron’s corner kick went into the box to Edward Solis who found the back of the net at the 11:48 mark to cut the Howard Payne lead in half at 2-1.

Following the opening flurry of goals, things would settle down as both teams would start to settle in and look for openings on the offensive side. David Trost’s shot at the 33:12 mark would end up going off the post as LETU would nearly tie the game at two before junior Alec Wier would put a shot off the rebound left of the net. Howard Payne would look to attack after regaining possession before being called for an offsides penalty, but end up catching a break as an own goal by LETU would put the score at 3-1 in favor of HPU. The score would remain at 3-1 heading into the locker room as LETU would outshoot Howard Payne 9-6 in the first half.

LeTourneau would start to emphasize offense in the second half, needing two goals to knot the game up with shots by Guillermo Torres, Sanchez, and Barron on goal early in half. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net in the first 25 minutes of the half before Howard Payne would break through with an unassisted goal at the 73:04 mark to take a 4-1 lead. LETU would manage to put up three shots in the final 12 minutes of the game, but could not break through for another score as HPU would earn the three-goal victory.

Howard Payne would end up with a 17-15 advantage in shots and a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Miguel Cabrera made six saves in the match while Wier led LETU with three total shots.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

BROWNWOOD, Texas – A pair of first-half goals would allow the LeTourneau University women’s soccer team to claim a 2-0 victory over Howard Payne University and clinch a spot in next week’s American Southwest Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament.

With the win, LETU improves to 9-6-3 and 5-5-2 in the ASC while HPU concludes their season at 5-9-2 overall and 4-8-0 in the conference.

LeTourneau would barrage Howard Payne early and often in the first half, putting up 20 shots in the opening 45 minutes of play while yielding only five first-half shots for HPU. LETU would earn a corner kick at the 21 minute mark and see a header by Rebekah Stevenson blocked but keep the ball on Howard Payne’s half of the field. LeTourneau freshman Jennifer Martin would put a shot on goal a just three minutes later at the 24:15 mark in the first half that would be saved by HPU keeper Nicole Goodwin but put back in play that would allow for Stevenson to score and give LETU the 1-0 lead.

LeTourneau would then get an insurance goal just before the 36-minute mark when sophomore Kelli Sonnier would score her team-leading sixth goal of the year. LeTourneau would manage to put up three more shots before halftime, but could not find the back of the net to add any more to their lead.

LETU would keep up their offensive shot barrage in the second half, adding 12 shots while limiting Howard Payne to just six second-half shots while forcing HPU keeper Goodwin to make nine second-half saves. Despite the high offensive output, LETU would be kept off the scoreboard but earn their seventh shutout of the year.

Senior Carrye Funk would break a school record with her sixth shutout of 2017, breaking the tie she held with Nicole Tammelin who had five in 2008. Martin would lead all players with ten shots while senior Kennedy Keer had six shots total.

ASC releases the official 2017 ASC Women’s Soccer Postseason Tournament following the conclusion of regular-season games on Saturday evening, but LETU is expected to be the No. 8 seed. Hardin-Simmons University won the ASC regular season title and will be the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament which will be Tuesday, October 31 through Sunday, November 5.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The LeTourneau University men’s cross country team would see junior Michael Field earn First-Team All-American Southwest Conference honors as the YellowJackets would finish seventh in the standings as the ASC Championships at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Texas on Saturday, October 28.

Field posted his second consecutive top-10 finish at the ASC Championships with an eighth-place finish coming in with a time of 27:15.70. LETU would finish with 186 total points, trailing East Texas Baptist in sixth place with 177 points while beating out Sul Ross State who came in eighth with 186 points. The University of Texas-Tyler would win their eighth-straight ASC title with 52 points followed by the University of Texas-Dallas in second (86 points) and McMurry University (92 points).

Other men’s results included Austin Coblentz in 42nd place with a time of 29:14.50 with Nathan Glastetter finishing directly behind him in 43rd place with a 29:15.60. Lorien Nightingale would take 45th with a 29:30 followed by Daniel Lopez in 75th place (32:00.9) and Wesley Anderson in 76th place (32:03.1). Nathanael Wendel (84th, 33:11.4) and Ben Duitsman (88th, 34:33.5) as well as Ryan Mailhot (95th (37:52.5) also ran in the meet for the YellowJackets.

Field’s top-10 finish will allow the Tega City, South Carolina native to run in the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championship meet which will be Saturday, November 11. Christopher Newport University in Newport News Virginia will host the meet.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Sophomore Alexis Segura finished in fourth place to earn first-team All-American American Southwest Conference honors while freshman Kirstiana Welch finished 12th to garner second-team All-Conference honors as the LeTourneau University women’s cross country team finished fifth at the ASC Cross Country Championships held at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock, Texas.

The University of Texas Dallas would win the overall team title with a score of 50 points followed by McMurry in second place (64 points) and the University of Texas-Tyler (94 points). LETU would finish with 120 points, trailing fourth-place Hardin-Simmons who had 97 points while beating out sixth-place East Texas Baptist who had 174 points.

Individually, Segura ran the 6K course in a time of 23:36.8 to lead the YellowJackets followed by Welch’s 24:46.90. Freshman Brittany Bergman would narrowly miss out on a top-20 finish with a 22nd place finish and a time of 25:32.20 while Bridey Davis came in 42nd with a 28:09.40. Allison Fuller came in 46th overall with a 28:39.20 while Olivia Stine came in 61st with a time of 31:33.10.

Segura’s top-10 finish secures her spot in the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championship on Saturday, November 11. Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia will host the meet.

VOLLEYBALL

SHREVEPORT, La. – The LeTourneau University volleyball team was never able to get into an offensive groove as Millsaps University handed the YellowJackets a 3-0 loss in at the Centenary Halloween Tournament at the Gold Dome in Shreveport, Louisiana on Friday, October 27.

LETU is now 10-20 overall this season while the Majors picked up their second win of the year over LeTourneau to improve to 14-13.

In a first set that saw the YellowJackets commit nine attack errors, Millsaps would take an early 3-1 lead and push their lead to 8-4 and force a LeTourneau timeout. The points would grow to 11-4 and manage to stay around the seven-point mark for a majority of the set as LETU would never be able to get closer than six points at 16-9 the rest of the way to the Majors winning the game by a score of 25-17.

LeTourneau would play better in the second set but still run into issues midway through that would allow Millsaps to take the lead for and find a way to pull away late. Ties early on in the set ended up being a theme as the first 12 points of the game would be traded between the two teams with another set of ties coming at 10-10, 11-11, and again at 12-12. Things would stay neck and neck with the final tie of the game coming at 18-18 on a Millsaps attack error before two straight points by the Majors would force a LeTourneau timeout. Millsaps would take a 24-20 lead before the YellowJackets would fend off two straight set points before finally falling by a score of 25-22.

The third set would appear to see LeTourneau finally starting to find their offense, jumping out to a 6-2 lead on a kill by Savanna Stutts which forced a Majors timeout. Millsaps would manage to tie the set at 10-10, but see LETU quickly reclaim the lead and managed to hold it until another tie at 18-18. Crunch time would prove extremely close as neither team would be able to open up a lead of more than three points when the YellowJackets would get to set point at 24-21. A timeout by Millsaps would break the LeTourneau run as MC would fight off three straight set points to tie the match at 24 and score six of the final seven points of the set to take a 27-25 set victory and claim a match sweep.

Millsaps would claim a 6-4 advantage in blocks in the set while LeTourneau recorded two service aces compared to only one for the Majors. Senior Korissa White led LETU with 20 set assists to go along with 13 digs while Audrey Galindo had a team-high 17 digs. Freshman Hailey Matthews along with Stutts were LeTourneau’s top with nine kills each.

The final two matches of 2017 for LETU will take place tomorrow at the Gold Dome when the YellowJackets get things going again starting at 3:00 p.m. Two familiar foes await LeTourneau who will take on Austin College in their first match before finishing their season against Centenary College at 5:00 p.m.

Matt Kinney
Sports Information Director