The University of Texas of the Permian Basin volleyball team improved to 3-1 in Heartland Conference play with a 25-18, 25-23, 25-23 win Thursday night over Dallas Baptist.

The Falcons used three attack errors and kills by Morgann Davis and Terra Peil to take a 1-4 lead over the Lady Patriots in the opening set. When DBU rallied to tie the set at 15-15, the Falcons stepped up with 10 of the last 13 points, including five straight, to take the opener 25-18.

Each of the final two sets were played much tighter, with the Falcons needing to rally from behind in both. Dallas Baptist looked poised to try to take control in the second after four straight points gave it a 14-11 lead. Coming out of a time out, the Falcons rallied to score three straight to tie the set at 14-14. The Falcons scored three consecutive points to lead 17-14, points that proved to be needed as the teams finished out the set scoring on the opposing team's serve for a 25-23 UTPB win in set two.

UTPB came out in set three and scored eight of nine to erase a three-point DBU advantage to lead 13-9. The Falcons gave up the lead but never trailed throughout the remainder as the Lady Patriots first tied the set at 19-19, and again at 23-23 on three straight points. Melissa Lusk closed out the match for UTPB on a pair of kills to wrap up the 25-23 set win and match sweep.

Lusk led the Falcons on the night with 12 kills while Hannah Rebb racked up nine kills on a team-best .304 hitting percentage. Jordan McDonald tallied a team-best 18 digs and Ariel Fralick led the Falcons with 19 assists. 

UTPB out-blocked Dallas Baptist 15-4 on the match, led by Terra Peil's eight blocks (two solo, six assists) and seven from Lusk (one solo, six assists).

The Falcons put their unbeated home mark on the line Saturday afternoon, taking on UA Fort Smith at noon.