ODESSA, Texas (October 23, 2024) – It was another great team effort as The University of Texas Permian Basin volleyball squad matched No. 15 nationally-ranked Angelo State University stat-for-stat in a very competitive 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19) defeat on Wednesday night inside the Falcon Dome.

Points were tied at 74-74, kills were tied at 61-61 and attack errors were 19 all. UTPB led 9-7 on blocks, 58-57 on assists, 79-77 on digs and .247-.243 on hitting percentage. Angelo State led 6-4 on service aces and saw the Falcons commit 10 service errors compared to five service errors by the Rambelles.

A tight contest saw the first three sets decided by 25-23 scorelines, with the Belles taking the first two sets. After committing seven attack errors in each of the first two sets, UTPB bounced back to hit .405 percent with 17 kills and just two attack errors in a victorious third set.

Both teams then hit over .300 percent with just three attack errors in the final set, but it was Angelo State which had just a little bit of extra strength in a set that featured just two ties and one lead change.

There were a combined 27 ties and 13 lead changes throughout the first three sets.

UTPB had four players reach double digits in kills and for the second match in a row, saw three players put together a double-double performance.

In one of the most impressive performances of the night, freshman Lauren Demuth shined with a career-high 15 kills while hitting .565 percent from her middle hitter position. Demuth also added five digs and led the team with five blocks. Demuth ranks in the top-four in the Lone Star Conference in blocks as a freshman.

Recording their second double-doubles in a row were Jenna Gray (32 assists, 16 digs) and Kennedi Wright (11 kills, 16 digs). It was a new career-high in the assist column for Gray, who leads the Falcons with eight double-doubles this season.

Cassandra Rother had 11 kills, four digs and a season-high four blocks, and Gloria Geurin recorded 10 kills and added 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.

Logan Terrazas had seven kills and hit .316 percent, and Chyra Thompson added six kills and three blocks while hitting .357 percent.

Gabby Gregorski was also a force defensively with a team-high 20 digs. It was her ninth match this season with 20 or more digs.

UTPB led 21-19 in the opening set after a kill by Demuth, a bad set by the Belles and an ace by Gray. A kill by Demuth later tied it at 22-22 and a kill by Rother made it 23-23, but back-to-back kills by ASU's Evelyn Torres put the visitors up one set to zero.

The second set featured 11 ties and seven lead changes, both match-highs. It was a 21-20 UTPB lead after a kill by Geurin, but four of the next five points went to ASU. A kill by Wright got the Falcons to within one (24-23), but another kill by Torres made it a 2-0 set lead. Torres led all players with 20 kills while hitting .302 percent.

UTPB maintained a one-to-four-point advantage for the majority of the third set until ASU tied it at 22-22. The Falcons responded with a kill by Demuth, and then after an attack error by Torres gave UTPB set point for the first time in the match, another kill by Demuth two points later got the Falcons onto the scoreboard.

In the fourth set, however, UTPB got off to a slow start and never recovered, trailing 10-5 after a 4-0 Belles' run ending with three points on a Falcons' blocking error, an attack error and then a bad set.

It was then 15-10 after another UTPB attack error, and UTPB cut the deficit to just two points (18-16) after an assisted block by Rother and Demuth, but that is the closest the Falcons would get the rest of the way.

"I'm very proud of the fight that was put in tonight," spoke UTPB's first-year head coach CJ Allard. "Those first two sets were anyone's to take, and it was a short run in the fourth set that gave Angelo a little cushion, but they were never comfortable tonight and there are a number of positives to take from that relentless spirit. We'll need that same output to come back from Alpine on Saturday night with a road victory."

UTPB drops to 11-7 overall and 4-5 in the Lone Star Conference while Angelo State improves to an impressive 18-2 and 8-1.

Next up, UT Permian Basin hits the road on Saturday, October 26, playing at Sul Ross State University. The match is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.