BELTON, Texas — Texas Lutheran Volleyball earned its first win of the 2026 season, defeating Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 19-25, 15-11), Thursday evening in the opening match of the 2026 UMHB Invitational at Mayborn Campus Center in Belton.
Junior Nadia Dunn (Houston/Pearland) and freshman Ava Search (Richmond/Needville) led the team with 14 kills each. Dunn added five digs and a block while Search finished with 16 digs, two blocks, and an ace while hitting .317 to record a double-double in her TLU debut. Andie Lozano-Lomeli (Brownsville/Pace) and Moriah Williams (San Antonio/Roosevelt) added eight kills each with Williams finishing with eight digs and two blocks. Zaria Solis (Burnet/Burnet) added seven kills and three blocks.
Addison Gallegos (Floresville/Jourdanton) recorded a double-double with a team-high 24 assists and 11 digs in addition to three service aces. Freshman Aleena Zuniga (McAllen/Sharyland Pioneer) finished with a double-double in her TLU debut, tallying 23 assists, 11 digs, and two service aces. Kieryn Adams (Schulenburg/Schulenburg) led the Bulldogs with 21 digs, while Briana Salvatierra-Moore (San Antonio/Antonian College Prep) contributed a team-high six blocks while adding five digs and five kills.
Texas Lutheran finished with nine service aces and found its offensive rhythm as the match progressed.
Texas Lutheran took the opening set, 25-21, in a back-and-forth frame that saw 11 ties. TLU pulled even at 16-16 after a kill from Solis and another kill from Solis brought the match to an even 19-all before the Bulldogs were able to separate down the final stretch. Dunn led the Bulldogs in the opening set of the 2026 season with five kills.
UMHB responded in the second set in a highly competitive set to to tie the match at one set apiece.
The Bulldogs fought back in dominant fashion in the third set, turning a 7-7 tie into a 15-9 advantage. Search recorded three kills during the run. TLU closed the set with the final four points.
UMHB forced a decisive fifth set, taking the fourth set, 25-19. The set was close throughout with the Bulldogs trailing 18-16 before the Crusaders pulled away.
TLU dominated the deciding set from the start, taking an early 5-1 lead to force a UMHB timeout. TLU staved off a UMHB rally as they turned their 10-7 advantage into a 15-11 win in the final set.
Texas Lutheran returns to action tomorrow, Friday, September 4, for day two as they face Alverno and Carroll in Belton. First serve is set for 9 AM and 3:45 PM respectively. The remaining neutral site games will be streamed for free. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran volleyball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (TLU Volleyball), Twitter (@TLU_VB), and Instagram (@tlu_vb) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).