ALPINE, Texas (October 28, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin volleyball team wrapped up a long stretch of four straight road matches with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 25-27, 25-17) win at Sul Ross State University on Tuesday night.

It was a much better result than the last time the Falcons ended a long road trip on Tuesday night and fell 3-2 at Western New Mexico University (Oct. 7).

It was also an important win to keep pace in the Lone Star Conference race as UTPB (8-13 overall, 6-5 LSC) began the day tied for 10th place in the conference standings, but was just one match out of sixth place. In addition, it was the third win by a score of 3-1 for the Falcons against Sul Ross (3-15, 1-11) in the last two seasons.

Kyndall Torres had the most eye-popping statistical performance, totaling a career-high 27 digs and three service aces, a match-high in both categories.

Ashlee Macias totaled 15 kills while Nickilah Whatley had eight and Lauren Demuth and Makenna Grimes both had six. Macias hit .333 percent while Whatley hit .286 percent.

All three UTPB setters recorded double-digit assists, led by Kierra Freeman with 20 and followed by Canyen Rodriguez with 14 and Emma Gonzalez with 12. For Rodriguez, it was her most assists since the first day of the season.

Grimes (9), Demuth (9), Macias (7) and Freeman (7) all added seven-plus digs as seven Falcons totaled at least six digs for the match. The other two were defensive specialists Isabel Rodriguez with 14 and Andrea Urzua with six.

Thanks in large part to its strong defensive effort, UTPB held Sul Ross to under 0.030 percent hitting in each of the first two sets, to under .070 percent hitting in each of its three sets wins, and to .071 percent hitting for the match.

UTPB built an 18-10 lead in the first set after an 8-1 run, but in the second set the Falcons trailed 18-17 before three straight points started an 8-2 run to close out the set. UTPB battled back from set point for Sul Ross twice in the third set after kills by Sydney Bradley and Macias extended the set, but the Lobos would be able to win the final two points on a Falcons' service error followed by a kill by Novah Carrasco.

UTPB would be able to take control of the final set when a run of four straight points featuring two bad sets by the Lobos broke an 11-11 tie and made it 15-11, and then the Falcons expanded their run to a margin of 11-2 and took a 22-13 lead after back-to-back attack errors on Sul Ross. UTPB's final two points of the night would come on kills by Amyah Collins to win the match.

"Road wins are always nice," spoke Head Volleyball Coach CJ Allard. "Our defensive prowess held Sul Ross to under .100 percent in the match, which will make us hard to beat regardless of how efficient our offense is. We were able to see action from all 16 players tonight, which rarely happens, so it was great to see everyone take a crack at the next-player-up philosophy."

Next up, the Falcons return to play on their home court for the weekend for just the third time this season. UTPB hosts No. 14 nationally-ranked West Texas &M University at 6 p.m. on Halloween Night (Friday, Oct. 31), followed by Eastern New Mexico at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 1).