UT Permian Basin Volleyball rallied against the top team in the Lone Star Conference Saturday, rebounding from trailing 2-1 to hold off #18 Angelo State in the fourth set to send it to a fifth and final set, but the Rambelles took the match with the final three points of the 25-23, 16-25, 22-25, 17-19 loss.

The Falcons led early on, taking the first set by two points, 25-23. Affter dropping the second and third sets, UTPB started out strong in the fourth holding an early 10-4 lead. After the Rambelles pulled within one at 19-18, the Falcons used kills from Skyler Friel and Netanya Allison with an ASU attack error to go ahead 22-18. 

Angelo State pulled within one behind three straight points at 24-23, but a solo block by Travana Matthews sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-23 UTPB win.

The Falcons came back after dropping the first two points of the fifth set and took an 8-6 lead after a kill from Aquincia Strambler and another solo block by Matthews. After trading points, the Falcons had their first attempt at match point when a kill by Kiera Granado gave them a 15-14 advantage. UTPB served for the match again at 17-16 following a Strambler kill. Unable to secure the match on serve, Angelo State closed out the afternoon with a kill to cap a three-point run for the 19-17 fifth set victory.

"Our team played with tremendous determination against a very strong team.  We had a stretch during the 2^nd game where we got away from the game plan, but the rest of the match was very high level volleyball that was enjoyable to watch," said Head Volleyball Coach Tim Loesch.

"While I wish that we could have scored an extra point or two to come away with the victory today, I am heartened by our improvement since we played Angelo at the beginning of conference season.  Hopefully we will continue getting better and finish the season strong!"

Matthews led the Falcons with 13 kills on the day, hitting .310 in the five-set match. Friel hit a team-best .474 with 10 kills, while Strambler added 11 winners and Isela Murillo had a double double with 12 digs and 10 kills. Analise Lucio had 31 assists while Granado had 24 assists on the day, and Megan Ashton had a team-best 30 digs for the Falcons.

UTPB heads back on the road this weekend, taking on West Texas A&M Friday night at 6 p.m. in Canyon, Texas.