UTPB Athletics

ODESSA, Texas (October 20, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin women's volleyball team won for the first time in Lone Star Conference action under its new head coach, Melissa Avila, defeating Sul Ross State University 3-1 (25-11, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18) on Tuesday night inside the Falcon Dome.

"I am proud of our team's fight today and the cleanliness in which we played," said Coach Avila after her first conference win as Head Coach of the Falcons. "It was good to see them bounce back after set three and get the win in four sets. Nickilah Whatley and Makenna Grimes had great offensive games, both hitting over .400 percent, and Giselle Orellana had a complete game, getting a double-double with 24 digs and 17 kills while hitting .308 percent."

UTPB (6-11 overall, 1-10 Lone Star Conference) was led by Orellana with a career-high 17 kills to go along with 24 digs. She totaled five kills in each of the second and third sets and had 11 digs in the fourth set.

Orellana was followed by Whatley with 11 kills and Grimes with nine, while Kaitlyn Salgado added 14 digs and Isabel Rodriguez had 12.

Each of UTPB's top-three hitters on the night (Orellana, Whatley, Grimes) hit over .300 percent as Kierra Freeman set up the hitters all match long with 26 assists.

It was a great first set for UTPB, which recorded a kill on each of its first three points of the match and on seven of its first 10 points. Three of UTPB's first four kills came from Whatley, the last one making it a 5-1 lead. It was later 10-1 after back-to-back kills by Sydney Bradley, and then Whatley's fourth kill of the early going made it 11-2.

Sul Ross tried to get back into it down 12-8, but the Falcons were on a mission and doubled up the Lobos twice (16-8 & 22-11). UTPB won each of the final six points of the set, including each of the last four points on kills. After the first kill of the match by Salgado made it 22-11, an attack by Orellana dropped in off the net to make it 23-11, an overpass on the reception attempt by the Lobos led to an easy one-handed kill by Whatley to make it 24-11, and then another kill by Salgado finished off the dominating 25-11 win.

UTPB hit an outstanding .429 percent (16 kills, 4 errors) in the opening set while the defense held Sul Ross to -0.115 percent (4 kills, 7 errors). The standout player of the opening set for UTPB was Whatley, who totaled six kills on six attacks (1.000 percent). In addition, Freeman dished out 10 assists in the opening set.

In the second set, however, UTPB did not come out as strong offensively, starting the set at .000 percent (2 kills, 2 errors) on 12 attempts and falling behind by a score of 8-4. UTPB would right the ship and win the next four points all on kills, starting with a kill by Salgado and followed by three straight kills by Orellana, giving her five kills within the first 16 points of the set. Then, after trailing 13-10, UTPB came back to tie it at 13-13. Salgado cleverly found the gap in the middle of the defense for a kill to make it 13-12, and then Bradley's attack got through the block to make it 13-13.

A pair of go-ahead kills by Whatley assisted by Freeman made it 14-13 and 15-14 Falcons, respectively, and then Whatley continued to shine with an ace to make it 16-14. However, this set was much closer and more competitive as Sul Ross tied it at 16-16 and again at 18-18. From there, a solo block by Precious Johnson ignited a 5-0 Falcons' run late in the set that saw another overpass on the reception by the Lobos lead to a kill by Grimes to make it 20-18, and that was followed by an ace by Salgado to make it 21-18. It was the Falcons' second ace in a span of 10 points after not having one at any point earlier in the match. After a timeout by the Lobos, a big kill by Johnson on the assist from Carson Peoples made it 22-18, and then after the second kill of the run from Grimes made it 23-18, Grimes' third kill in a span of eight points ended the set with a 25-20 victory.

UTPB was able to overcome seven tied scores in the second set thanks in large part to recording 16 kills for the second set in a row, but it would be the Lobos who totaled 17 kills to win the third set.

Despite another slow start offensively, UTPB led 10-8 in the third set, getting the bulk of its points on six Sul Ross attack errors. It was later 12-9 after a big swing and a kill by Orellana, and was 14-10 after Orellana's third kill in the last seven points between the two teams. It was 15-11 after a solo block by Bradley, but after the ensuing technical timeout, the Lobos scored five straight points and ultimately went on a 7-1 run to take an 18-16 advantage. Grimes tried to keep UTPB in it with a pair of kills to twice get the Falcons to within one (19-18 & 20-19), but the Falcons were unable to come back and tie it as the Lobos' attack came alive with 17 kills and an attack percentage over .200 percent for their first time in the match.

The two teams went back-and-forth digging everything to start the fourth set. Trailing 6-3, Coach Avila inserted setter Emma Gonzalez for the first time in the match to try and jumpstart the offense for UTPB, and the decision immediately led to a kill by Salgado from Gonzalez. Orellana continued to have a great match, recording a kill on the assist from Freeman to tie the set at 8-8. Then tied at 11-11, it was again Whatley who helped the Falcons create some separation, recording a solo block and an ace on back-to-back points to make it 13-11. UTPB did not look back from there, jumping ahead 19-15 on a kill by Grimes on the assist from Gonzalez and then leading 23-16 after back-to-back kills by Orellana, both on the assist by Freeman. A kill by Whatley on the assist from Freeman made it 24-17, and then a Lobos' attack error on the final point ended the final set with UTPB in front 25-18.

It was UTPB's fourth win of 3-1 over Sul Ross in the last three seasons. It was also the first time the Falcons hosted the Lobos in a conference match since Sul Ross joined the LSC starting with the 2024 season. Sul Ross (1-21, 1-11) was coming off a 3-2 road win at Cameron University last time out, leaving UTPB as the last remaining team in the LSC without a conference win until tonight.

With their four-match homestand wrapped up, the Falcons will head back on the road, first at West Texas A&M University at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 23, and followed by Eastern New Mexico University at 3 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday, October 24.