UTPB volleyball hung with one of the best teams in the Heartland Conference Saturday afternoon, sticking with UA Fort Smith and grabbing a lead in all three of the sets played, but Arkansas - Fort Smith prevailed in a 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 win over the Falcons in Odessa.

The Falcons led for a lot of the opening set after taking the first three points of the afternoon, UTPB wet ahead 17-15 on three straight points with a pair of kills from Annelise Sanchez, and the Falcons had the set tied at 20-20, but the Lions scored the last five points of set one for a 25-20 win.

UA Fort Smith had to come back again in the second after another fast start by UTPB as the Falcons led 7-3 early on. The Lions evened the set at 16-16 after three straight points and eventually grabbed an 18-17 lead. They scored three straight to go on top 22-19 and held onto the lead at the end as UTPB pulled within one two different times in the two-point win.

Set three went back and forth, with the lead changing hands six times and 14 ties in the first 30 points. UA Forth Smith scored five in a row to break out to a 19-15 advantage, but the Falcons later scored five in a row of their own taking a 21-20 lead on a block by Morgann Davis. UA Fort Smith got back in control by scoring four of the next five points beofre winning the match 25-23.

Caitlyn Guajardo led the Falcons with 12 kills on the afternoon and Davis tied for the match high with five blocs. Marina Salazar led all players on the afternoon with 16 digs and Ariana Galalrdo had a team-high 21 assists.