AUSTIN, Texas (September 18, 2026) – After defeating the Hilltoppers 3-2 at home last Saturday (Sept. 12), the UT Permian Basin volleyball team had no such luck on the road on Friday, falling 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-19) at St. Edward's University in their 2026 Lone Star Conference opener. It was the end of a six-match losing streak for SEU against UTPB dating back to the 2021 Fall season.
UTPB (5-2 overall, 0-1 LSC) trailed by double digits (17-7) in the opening set, the same score the Falcons trailed in the second set on Saturday before coming back to win the set. This time around, however, there would be no comeback.
After a 5-0 run by UTPB before the final point by SEU (6-5, 1-0) in the first set, the Falcons used the momentum to put together another 5-0 run take an early 5-3 lead in the second set. That second 5-0 run featured three bad sets by the Hilltoppers to go along with back-to-back kills by
Kaitlyn Salgado. However, the Hilltoppers called a timeout and answered with six straight points to retake the lead (9-5).
Although UTPB was much more competitive in the first half of the second set, making it a 10-8 deficit on a kill by Salgado followed by a block assist from
Precious Johnson and
Makenna Grimes, back-to-back service aces by Landry Baughman made it a 13-8 lead for SEU. Then not long after, three straight aces by Giselle Ojeda gave the Hilltoppers the separation they would need with an 18-11 advantage.
SEU out-aced UTPB 11-0 for the match, getting four apiece from Baughman and Ojeda. It was a season-high in aces for the Hilltoppers, surpassing their previous best total of 10 aces from the earlier match vs. the Falcons.
In addition, the SEU offense was just too strong all night long, hitting .233 for the match with 15-plus kills in two of the three sets. Despite earning 17 kills in the final set, the third set was more about the Hilltoppers' defense early on as SEU built a 13-3 lead. After the score was 15-5, UTPB cut its deficit to four (16-12) with a 7-1 run starting with back-to-back kills by Grimes, but SEU answered with a 6-1 run of its own to take back control (22-13). That run for SEU at one point featured three straight UTPB attack errors as the Falcons hit under .150 percent in each of the final two sets.
Junior middle hitter
Haley Beggs made her Falcon debut in the third set and after a free ball by SEU, she measured the pass from setter
Emma Gonzalez and smashed her first-career kill to hold off match point by the Hilltoppers for one more rally.
Gonzalez finished with 11 assists for UTPB while Grimes (7), Salgado (6), Johnson (5) and
Sydney Bradley (4) were the team leaders in kills.
To go along with her five kills, Johnson also added five blocks (2 solo, 3 assisted) defensively as UTPB out-blocked SEU by a 6-1 margin.
Also defensively,
Kyndall Torres tied for the match-high with 15 digs.
The Falcons will return to the court tomorrow to battle St. Mary's University at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, in San Antonio, Texas.
