UT Permian Basin won the first two sets of its opening match of the week, but needed to go the distance in picking up a 3-2 victory Friday afternoon against Purdue Northwest in the 2018 Hilltopper Classic. The Falcons dropped their second match of the day 3-0 to host St. Edward's later Friday night.

In a back-and-forth first set that saw the match stay close, the Falcons grabbed a two-point lead after a stretch of five out of six points. Puava Tulau sandwiched a pair of kills around a block by Aquincia Strambler and Travana Matthews, and winners by Strambler and Haleigh Robinson helped UTPB to a 21-19 advantage. The Falcons took the first set 25-22 on a kill by Skyler Friel and an attack error on the final point of the set.

Purdue Northwest scored the first four points of set two, but the Falcons fought back to take their first lead in the second at 20-19 on a kill and service ace by Friel. Down 23-21, a pair of PNU errors and a block by Matthews and Robinson sent the Falcons to set point. The Pride came back to score the next two for set point of their own, but a pair of kills by Friel with a set winning kill by Tulau gave the Falcons set two 28-26.

UTPB raced out to a 5-1 lead early in set three and had a 19-13 advantage, but a prolonged scoring drought over the final half of the set saw the Pride out-score the Falcons 12-2 to take the third 25-21.

Another big scoring stretch in set four saw Purdue Northwest stretch out a 17-15 advantage to a 24-15 lead on seven straight points in an eventual 25-17 win.

UT Permian Basin faced a sizable deficit in the fifth and deciding set, falling behind early 7-2. UTPB ended the match by scoring six of the final seven points, including the last four on a pair of kills by Strambler and a match-winning block from Matthews and Robinson for the 15-13 set.

The Falcons out-hit the Pride .170 to .124 on the afternoon, recording two fewer kills (54 to 56) but committing 27 errors to 34 for Purdue Northwest.

Strambler led a trio of Falcons with double digit kills with 12 on the match. Friel added 11 winners, and Matthews ended the five sets with 10. Matthews hit a team-high .389 on 18 attempts while Friel was just behind at .320 on 25 attacks.

Analise Lucio led the Falcons with 21 assists in the match, and Megan Ashton had a team-best 23 digs in the contest.

In match two of the day, host St. Edward's took a three-set match 20-25, 23-25, 24-26.

Despite falling behind early, the Falcons were able to get within a point three different times late in the second set,the third at 21-22 on a kill by Marissa Aguilar. 

The Falcons scored five straight in the third set on a kill by Aguilar, a pair of attack errors by the Hilltoppers and aces by Lucio to go on top 10-6. UTPB led late in the set 22-21 on a winner by Cadey Jones and tied the match at 24-24, but St. Edward's won the match on a kill by Maddie Miksch for the 26-24 winner.

Matthews led UTPB with nine kills in three sets while Lucio paced the Falcons with 14 assists and Ashton added 14 digs.

The Falcons close out play in Austin Saturday afternoon, facing Colorado State - Pueblo at 2 p.m.