LA MIRADA, Calif. (September 12, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin women's volleyball team began its trip to the Golden State with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-23) loss at host Biola University. The Falcons then returned to the court at Biola's Chase Gymnasium on Friday and fell behind two sets to zero before battling back for a 3-2 (10-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-13, 15-13) comeback win over Azusa Pacific University.
 
Match 1 (UTPB 0, Biola 3):

• UTPB dropped the first set despite finishing with more kills (13-11) and outhitting Biola (.281-.242) in the set.
• Biola did, however, open up with five service aces in the first set, and added five more in the second set and three in the third set. It was the most aces given up by the Falcons in a match since September 15, 2023, vs. Oklahoma Christian University.
• Biola also hit .400 percent with 14 kills and zero attack errors in the second set.
• In the first set, UTPB led 10-8 after a 4-0 run featuring a pair of kills by both Makenna Grimes and Sydney Bradley.
• UTPB later led 15-14 before a 7-0 run for Biola that started with back-to-back kills and featured two UTPB attack errors and three straight service aces from Biola's Lexi Lambert.
• Back-to-back bad sets by the Falcons would end the first set.
• The second set was close until a service error by the Falcons was followed by three straight service aces by the Eagles, and then a kill by Hannah Hanson capped the 5-0 run to make it a 16-9 lead for Biola.
• UTPB led 5-2 early in the third set after a 5-0 run featuring back-to-back kills by Lauren Demuth, a service ace by Grimes, a Biola attack error and then ending with a kill by Nickilah Whatley.
• A 5-0 run for Biola flipped the advantage to 10-6.
• Biola would lead until UTPB scored six straight points to tie it at 22-22.
• However, after a kill by Bradley tied it, Biola responded with a kill by Payton Tully and an attack error by Bradley to get to set point.
• Another kill by Bradley prolonged the end of the match, but a kill by Kendall Vandertuig did end it on the next point.
• Bradley finished the first match of the road trip with 13 kills while hitting .440 percent. It was the best match as a Falcon so far for Bradley, who transferred to UTPB this year from the University of North Carolina Asheville.
• For Biola, Vandertuig, Hanson and Tully all finished with eight kills.
• Kierra Freeman finished with 16 assists while Emma Gonzalez turned in her second double-double in four career matches, finishing with 13 assists and 12 digs.
• UTPB finished the match leading 40-37 in kills and 45-42 in digs while assists were even at 37 apiece.
• The biggest difference was eight additional service aces for Biola. Lambert had six of Biola's 13 aces in the match.
• It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Eagles (4-2).
• Biola finished the match with just six attack errors on the day, hitting .301 overall, marking season-bests in both categories.

 
Match 2 (UTPB 3, Azusa Pacific 2):

• It was a rough start for the Falcons. After the third kill of the opening set by Whatley made it an 8-7 deficit, Azusa rattled off 11 straight points to take a 19-7 lead.
• UTPB hit -.036 percent (6 kills, 7 errors) in the first set.
• The Falcons then trailed 8-3 early in the second set; got within one (8-7) after a kill by Bradley, back-to-back service aces by Gonzalez and a kill by Whatley; but then fell behind by five (12-7) after three straight UTPB attack errors.
• After a timeout by the Falcons, Azusa kept its scoring run going with three more points on a service ace, a kill and an assisted block to make it a 7-0 run and a 15-7 lead.
• UTPB got to within three points of Azusa (17-14) midway through the second set after a kill by Grimes and back-to-back aces by Freeman.
• A kill by Bradley made it a 21-18 deficit, but UTPB got just one more point the rest of the way while committing two more attack errors and committing one service error.
• UTPB committed nine total attack errors in the second set while Azusa totaled nine kills and just one attack error.
• In the third set, kills by Demuth and Whatley gave UTPB a 10-7 lead and forced a timeout by the Cougars, and then a service ace by Demuth right after the timeout made it 11-7.
• UTPB was hitting .462 percent (7 kills, 1 error) to that point in the set, and then expanded its lead to 15-9 after three straight points on a kill by Bradley, an ace by Isabel Rodriguez and a Cougars' attack error.
• UTPB then withstood a 5-1 Cougars' run with five straight points itself on an Azusa service error, an ace by Gonzalez, a kill by Freeman, a kill by Demuth and an assisted block by Freeman and Demuth to make it 21-14.
• A kill by Whatley on set point gave UTPB its first set victory of the day.
• Similarly to the third set, UTPB led early in the fourth set and forced an early timeout by Azusa after back-to-back kills by Demuth were followed by a Cougars' attack error to make it a 9-4 Falcons' lead.
• A kill by Whatley made it 11-5, a service ace by I. Rodriguez made it 15-7, an assisted block by Bradley and Demuth made it 17-8, another kill by Whatley made it 21-10, and an ace by Demuth made it 23-11.
• At the end of the fourth set, a kill by Kimaya Webb got the Falcons to set point (24-13), and a kill by Bradley finished it off to force the fifth set.
• Freeman opened up the final set with her third service ace of the match, however, after the next four points went to the Cougars on two attack errors and a bad set, UTPB called a timeout to regroup.
• A kill by Grimes got the Falcons back to within one (4-3), and a kill by Demuth tied it at 5-5.
• The next two points went to Azusa on kills before another kill by Demuth and another by Grimes to tie it at 7-7.
• Again, the next two points went to Azusa, but again UTPB battled back to tie it, this time on kills by Grimes and Freeman.
• On the next point, Freeman assisted a kill by Whatley to give UTPB a 10-9 lead.
• That forced a Cougars' timeout, and then after the timeout, Demuth came up with a big solo block to make it 11-9 Falcons.
• Tied at 11-11, Demuth continued her strong performance in the final set with another kill to make it 12-11 UTPB.
• Tied at 12-12, a kill by Webb was followed by an assisted block by Bradley and Webb.
• At match point and after the final Cougars' timeout, the winning point came thanks to a final kill from Whatley.
• Whatley matched her season-high with 16 kills and was followed by Demuth with a season-high 13 kills and five blocks.
• Freeman dished out a career-best 41 assists.
• Grimes, a freshman from Fort Worth, Texas, notched her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs. She was one of four Falcons with double-digit digs in the match.
• Kyndall Torres, a freshman libero from Midland, Texas, had a season-high 11 digs.
• With 10 digs against the Cougars, libero I. Rodriguez stands at exactly 100 digs six matches into the season for UTPB.
• Last but certainly not least, Webb, a transfer middle hitter from McNeese State University, had her best match as a Falcon with seven kills and four blocks.
• In the deciding fifth set, Freeman had six assists, one kill and one service ace; Grimes had four kills; Demuth had three kills and a solo block; Whatley had two kills; Torres had four assists; and Webb had a kill and an assisted block.
• The final frame was tight throughout, featuring six ties and two lead changes, but UTPB's balance at the net and timely blocking sealed the match with a 15-12 finish.

 
Coach's Quote:

• "We are still very much trying to figure this thing out, especially without our Player of the Year candidate [Ashlee Macias]. We were not nearly sharp enough against a well-trained Biola team this morning and most would have assumed the same after forgetting the objective of our sport in the first set this evening against Azusa Pacific. As a coach though, one thing I hate is blowing out a team in a set like we were in set one – subconsciously, APU let off the gas a touch after set one and even more after going up 2-0. I give our squad a lot of credit for trusting themselves and their teammates as we worked to claw back in the match. Hopefully taking sets three, four and five against an experienced, winning program will give us momentum as we continue our California trip with two more important matches tomorrow." – Head Coach CJ Allard.

Next Up: After playing at Biola on Friday, the Falcons will finish off their trip to California with two matches at Vanguard University. UTPB will play at host Vanguard at 9 a.m. Pacific Time / 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday, September 13, followed by the final match against Stanislaus State at 1 p.m. Pacific Time / 3 p.m. Central Time.