Box Score UTPB volleyball dropped a 3-1 decision Thursday night in Heartland Conference action to St. Mary's 22-25, 25-19, 25-27, 21-25 at the Falcon Dome in Odessa.

After dropping the first set, the Falcons came back and pulled ahead in the second to lead 9-5 with four out of five points. UTPB went up by six later in the set on a five-point run featuring a pair of kills by Morgann Davis and later led by as many as seven points two different times, the second on another kill by Davis to lead 20-13.  Ryley Carman put the set away with a kill for the 25-19 win.

Both teams played a tight set early in the third until the Falcons went ahead by five points 14-9, using a pair of kills by Hannah Rebb and one from Carman for a five point advantage. UTPB lept the lead by as many as five as late as 22-17, but a four-point swing from the Rattlers cut the advantage to a single point. A Carman kill put the Falcons back on top by two, but two straight from St. Mary's tied the set at 23-23. UTPB had a chance at set point with a Rebb kill for a 24-23 lead, but two straight points from St. Mary's gave it a chance to clinch the set. UTPB and St. Mary's traded a point before the Rattlers clinched the set 27-25.

St. Mary's came out to take a 6-2 lead in the start of the fourth, but the Falcons took the lead with a five point run, getting three kills from Carman to go back on top 7-6. The Rattlers later used seven of eight points to go ahead by four 15-11.

UTPB closed the gap late in the fourth down to a point with a pair of kills from Annelise Sanchez and an ace by Ariana Gallardo, but St. Mary's took the match with four of the final five points of the evening for a 25-21 fourth set win.

Davis and Carman led all players on the night with 14 kills each. Gallardo had a game-high 48 kills in the four-set match and Taylor Harmon had a team-best 18 digs.

UTPB is back at home this weekend, hosting Texas A&M International Saturday at noon in conference action.