UT Permian Basin volleyball opened up the second half of its Lone Star Conference schedule with a fominant 25-17, 25-16, 25-22 victory over Texas A&M Kingsville in its only LSC match of the week Friday night in Odessa.

The Falcons showed early on that they were a force to be contended with on the night, scoring six straight points for a 6-1 lead in the first set. Later in the first, UTPB scored seven straight points with two coming on kills by Aquincia Strambler to run out to a 16-8 advantage. The Falcons then closed out the first with four straight points, getting a kill by Skyler Friel and ending the set on an ace by Friel for the eight-point set victory.

Set two started out much the same for the Falcons as UTPB led 5-1 early on after four straight points that featured two more winners by Strambler. Kingsville never pulled back within three points over the remainder of the set, and the Falcons closed it out on a kill by Friel for a nine-point set victory.

The Falcons had to fight in the third set after dropping the first two points, but used another large run by scoring seven straight points as part of a run to take a 14-6 lead. Kingsville rebounded to tie the match at 18-18, but the Falcons used a three-point swing with kills by Strambler and Travana Matthews with a block by Haleigh Robinson and Matthews to go ahead 22-19. Matthews ended the match with a kill up the middle for the 25-22 win.

UTPB hit .308 as a team on the night, recording 44 kills to just 12 errors while holding the Javelinas to just .059 attacking and only 27 kills. 

Friel led UTPB with 13 kills on 23 attempts with no errors on the night to hit a team-best .565. Strambler added 12 winners while hitting .455 in the three sets.

Analise Lucio led the Falcons with 20 assists while Kiera Granado chipped in 15 assists on the night. Megan Ashton added a team-best 13 digs.

Prior to the match, the Falcons recognized a pair of juniors that hit career milestones earlier in the week. Libero Sarah Vasquez recorded her 1,000th career dig for UTPB against Lubbock Christian, and Granado tallied her 1,000th career assist against the Lady Chaps.

UTPB is back in action on the road next week, traveling for contests at Cameron and Midwestern State.