In the last game in the first half of Western Athletic Conference play, the Wildcats lost a hard-fought match to Tarleton State University. 

Saturday’s game went to five sets, and several players earned personal bests and milestones. 

Hadlee Welch, freshman pin hitter from Lubbock, had a career-best 17 kills in the match and hit .314. Avery Thaler, sophomore middle blocker from Fairfield, also had a career best with her seven blocks.

“Hadlee, hands down, had her best match of the season,” Head Coach Ijeoma Moronu Alstrup said. “We all knew that she was capable of doing it. She was just super aggressive, taking care of the ball. Avery also had a really great offensive showing, her best one of the season as well. Really exciting to see those two step up.”

In addition to Welch’s and Thaler’s achievements was a career milestone: 500 kills for Hannah Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez, junior middle blocker from Lucas, recorded 10 kills in the match against Tarleton. Gonzalez has nearly matched her season output in kills from last season, with 213 so far this season after recording 238 in her sophomore year. 

However, despite these landmarks, the Wildcats still fell to the Texans, which Moronu Alstrup said was from a lack of ball control on their own side of the net. 

“I think we did some really good things in the sets that we won,” she said. “We gave away a few too many points on the ones that we didn’t. So, tough loss, but I think there were definitely bright spots.”

Moving to the second half of conference, Moronu Alstrup said there will be an added emphasis for the Wildcats on controlling what they can control, especially since that is what has worked so far for her squad. 

“We just have to control the ball,” she said. “Not give too many service errors, and just make sure that we stay the aggressor and kind of take control of matches instead of playing with them or letting the other team do whatever they want to.”

The Wildcats will travel to Utah for a match at Utah Tech on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT and a game at Southern Utah on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT. The team will look to win its first match in the state of Utah in both of these games and to improve its conference record.