CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs started their 2019 season on a high-note on Friday with victories over St. Mary's and Southern Arkansas during the BritKare Lady Buff Classic inside of the historic WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" in Canyon.
 
The Lady Buffs return to action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. as they take on the Golden Tigers of Tuskegee University in the tournament finale, the Golden Tigers fell to Southern Arkansas and St. Mary's on Friday afternoon as they enter Saturday action 0-2.
 
GAME 1
West Texas A&M 3, St. Mary's 2 (25-13, 23-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-8)
 
Senior Selena Batiste registered a career-high 20 kills on 39 swings with four errors to hit .410 in the match to go along with 14 digs for her 39^thcareer double-double as the Lady Buffs outlasted the Rattlers in a five-set thriller. WT started the season off fast as they scored for first seven points of the match on their way to a 25-13 victory in the opening set as they hit .333 in the frame.
 
Torrey Miller impressed in her first career match in Maroon & White as the Brownfield native tallied 17 kills to go along with five assists and a pair of service aces while fellow freshman Samantha Jordan registered 12 kills in the victory. Chandler Vogel tallied a match-high 35 digs while Gabby Emery dished out 33 assists, WT finished the match strong as they hit .647 in the final frame with an 85% side-out percentage for the 15-8 win.
 
GAME 2
West Texas A&M 3, Southern Arkansas 0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17)
 
Miller had another standout game for the Lady Buffs in the opening day finale as the true freshman finished the night with 12 kills on 30 swings with just four errors to hit .267 in the straight-set victory. Emery (19) and Sadie Snay (11) both registered double-digit assists for the Lady Buffs while Vogel led the way with 11 digs and three service aces.
 
WT hit .244 on the night with 37 kills on 86 swings to go along with 34 assists, five aces, (25-13, 23-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-8)37 digs and 8.5 total blocks. The Lady Buffs defense allowed just 21 total kills by the Muleriders as they forced 24 attack errors for an attack percentage of -.034 on the night.