UT Permian Basin successfully opened its 2019 season Thursday night in dominant fashion, overpowering University of the Southwest for a 25-8, 25-14, 25-17 win over the Mustangs to begin the Dr. Steve Aicinena Invitational Presented by MCM Elegante.
The Falcons took advantage of eight Mustang errors in the first game and combined to hit .296 with 11 kills in the 17-point first set victory.
UTPB hit even better in the second set, recording 15 kills on 30 attempts to hit .400 as a team with just three attack errors.
A trio of Falcons led the attack on the night as returning first team All-LSC selection senior
Skyler Friel,
Marissa Aguilar and newcomer
Isela Murillo each had seven kills.
"I am proud of our team for playing very crisply for our first match of the season. Our defensive players,
Sarah Vasquez and
Megan Ashton started most of our rallies with a good pass or a dig," said head coach
Tim Loesch. "Our setters
Kiera Granado and
Analise Lucio, distributed the ball very intelligently, in the location and tempo our hitters like. Our attackers all had a nice mix of aggressive swings and smart shots. Some of our hitters from last year continued their stellar play:
Travana Matthews,
Skyler Friel and
Marissa Aguilar each did well. I'm especially pleased that we had a pair of new players play well in their initial match as Falcons.
Isela Murillo and
Stephanie Sanchez shined brightly in their debut. It was a solid team effort to start the season, and we will look for others to also contribute as we still have 3 more matches to play this weekend."
Travanna Matthews had six winners on just eight points, hitting a team-leading .750 on the night to help UT Permian Basin hit .318 as a team while holding Southwest to -.022.
Kiera Granado had a team-best 19 assists as UTPB committed just 10 errors on the day.
Libero
Sarah Vasquez had 12 digs to lead all players in the game.
The Falcons continue action Friday, facing Westminster at 1 p.m. before returning at 6 p.m. for a non-conference game against Texas A&M International.
