ODESSA, Texas (September 28, 2024) – The Falcons brought an eight-match winning streak and a 4-0 home record to the court against the No. 10-ranked team in the country, but it would not be enough as The University of Texas Permian Basin women's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 28-26) against West Texas A&M University inside the Falcon Dome on Saturday.

It was the end of the opening weekend of Lone Star Conference action as UTPB fell to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference while WT improved to 9-3 and 2-0.

The Lady Buffs are the 2022 NCAA Division II national champions and the 2023 national runners-up. The first three weekends of the season saw the Lady Buffs battle eight top-25 opponents with a pair of them ranking inside of the top-5. The Lady Buffs fell to No. 10 in the newest edition of the AVCA/TERAFLEX Division II Top-25 Poll announced this past Monday.

A major bright spot for the Falcons against the tough competition was the effort put forth by Ashlee Macias, who tallied 12 kills and five digs and hit .381 percent. All three numbers were a new career-high for the freshman from El Paso, Texas.

Chyra Thompson was next with 11 kills and three blocks while hitting .421 percent. Thompson has now reached double-digit kills in five of the last six matches while hitting at least .348 percent in all six matches. She has also had at least three blocks in all 11 matches so far this season.

Cassandra Rother added seven kills and Gabby Gregorski averaged five digs per set (15 digs).

Jenna Gray dished out 15 assists and was two digs shy of a double-double (8 digs).

Kierra Freeman followed Gray with nine assists, which was good for the second-most productive match of her freshman season so far.

UTPB led 7-4 in the opening set after three straight points on a kill by Thompson, an assisted block by Logan Terrazas and Thompson, and then another kill by Thompson, but then five straight points from WT kicked off what was ultimately a 15-2 run to make it a 10-point margin (19-9).

In the final set, UTPB led 11-10 after a kill by Rother and led 18-17 after a kill by Macias. Then after facing match point down 24-22, a kill by Thompson was followed by back-to-back Lady Buffs' attack errors to give the Falcons set point.

Unfortunately, WT would not to be denied as three kills by the Buffs on the next four points set up a match-ending block.

After out-blocking UTPB 8-4 for the match and 4-0 in the third set, the Lady Buffs took a 104.0-101.0 lead over the Falcons for the top ranking in the LSC in blocks.

WT also finished with a 7-1 advantage in service aces, each of which came in the first two sets of the match.

Head Coach CJ Allard said, "We've made fantastic strides this season, but today proved we're no where near where we need to be to contend with the Lone Star's elite programs. Thankfully, we have practice scheduled for Monday afternoon."

The Falcons are back in action next weekend as they hit the road for the first time in conference play this season. UTPB will play back-to-back matches at Texas A&M University-Kingsville at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 4, and at Texas A&M International at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 5.