The University of Texas of the Permian Basin volleyball team closed out play at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic Saturday afternoon, dropping a five-set contest against Western State Colorado before falling 3-1 to Incarnate Word.

The Falcons rebounded against WSCU after dropping the first two sets of the match by a combined five points by coming out and dominating the third set. After dropping the first two points, the Falcons scored the next six and eventually took a 12-5 lead. UTPB then went on an 11-1 run behind four kills, a service ace by Hannah Rebb and six errors by the Mountaineers to reach set point, scored two points later for a 25-9 win.

UTPB came out and controlled parts of set four, using a five-point streak to break a 3-3 tie and pull ahead by five. The Falcons later scored six of seven to hold a 15-7 advantage, and held on at the end of the set when WSCU pulled within a point to edge the Mountaineers 25-23 and take the match to a fifth set.

The Falcons started out hot in the abbreviated final set, scoring the first three points behind a pair of kills from Rebb. But UTPB gave up the next five points, and following a four-point swing that gave it back a 7-5 lead, Western State Colorado came back with seven consecutive points of its own to pull ahead 13-7 before winning the match on an 15-8 fifth set win.

Keeley Brogdon (11) and Melissa Lusk (9) led the Falcons in kills, while Ariel Fralick had a team-high 27 assists. Jordan McDonald recorded 18 total digs, and Ryley Carman and Terra Peil each had four blocks.

UTPB came out strong against Division I opponent Incarnate Word as the Falcons fought from behind in the opening set to erase a seven point deficit and score the final seven points of the first to take a 25-23 opening set win.

The Cardinals held the Falcons in check over the next two sets, jumping out to large leads in each to take a 2-1 lead through three.

UTPB held with the Cardinals in the fourth and held the lead two different times in the first 20 points, leading by two 11-9. UIW rallied with five in a row to lead by three and held the lead the rest of the way in taking the fourth set 25-22 to win the match.

Rebb led UTPB with 11 kills in the match while Fralick paced the Falcons in both assists (18) and digs (12).

UTPB plays at home for the first time this season Thursday, September 12, hosting Texas A&M International in a Heartland Conference contest.