Box Score
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin volleyball team jumped out to a two-set lead on the road Thursday night at Dallas Baptist, but the Patriots fought back, winning the final three sets of the night to defeat UTPB 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25 and 12-15.
The loss breaks up the Falcons' five game winning streak spanning action over the last two weeks.
UTPB had to fight to come back in the opening set of the match after quickly falling behind 7-2. The Falcons clawed back to pull within one behind three straight errors from Dallas Baptist to trail 9-8. UTPB tied the match on a kill from Jamie Rodell for its third straight point at 13-13, but gave up four of the next five to find it trailing 17-14. The Falcons then took over the set, scoring seven straight points on four kills, a pair of attack errors and an ace from Kelsey Zukowski to hold a 21-17 advantage. The teams traded the next six points and UTPB ended the set on an ace from Hannah Rebb to win the opener 25-20.
The Falcons had an easier time winning set two, scoring five straight points with a pair of aces and a kill from Lusk to lead 7-3. A four-point swing from Dallas Baptist brought the set to a tie, but the Falcons killed any momentum with a 10-1 run to put the Patriots down 17-8. DBU was able to bring the match to within seven points on a four point swing, but Keeley Brogdon locked up the set with a kill at 25-17.
Another large run for UTPB in set three helped them to a large lead early on as the Falcons scored nine of 10 points to lead 11-5. Leading later on at 19-13, Dallas Baptist responded with its own 10-1 run, overtaking the Falcons to lead the set 23-20. Hannah Rebb picked up a pair of kills at the end of the set, but DBU was able to extend the match with a 25-22 third set win.
Set four belonged to DBU as the Patriots never trailed and let the set fall into a tie just twice. UTPB scored three kills in four points to bring the set to 7-7, but three in a row from DBU helped it to keep the lead the remainder of the set, holding UTPB to scoring multiple points just once as it tied the match at 2-2 to send it to a decisive fifth set.
DBU took a quick 4-0 lead in the fifth on three straight UTPB attack errors. Kills from Terra Peil and Melissa Lusk cut the lead in half, and the Falcons later closed the gap to one at 7-6 on a kill from Rebb. A four point swing in the second half of the fifth led to the Falcons taking their first lead at 11-10, but Dallas Baptist responded by putting together four straight kills to reach match points at 14-11. UTPB closed the lead to two on a kill from Lusk, but DBU finished the match with a kill of its own to take the 3-2 come-from-behind victory.
Rodell led all UTPB players with 17 kills on the night while hitting a team-best .455. UTPB had three others finish in double digits as Lusk tallied 14 winners and Rebb and Brogdon scored 12 kills each. Rebb also tallied 15 digs on the night while Danae Eckart led the team with 33 total. Ariel Fralick and Ariana Gallardo shared the team lead with 28 assists apiece.
UTPB continues road action this weekend, traveling to St. Edward's. Saturday afternoon's match in Austin, Texas, is scheduled for noon.
