Consistency wasn’t favoring the UTPB volleyball team in its Lone Star Conference match against Texas A&M-Commerce Thursday at the Falcon Dome.
Although the Falcons would find themselves ahead at certain points in the contest, it wasn’t enough as the Lions came away with a 28-26, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21 victory.
Before the matchup, UTPB was seventh in the conference standings and sat one match behind Texas A&M-Commerce.
The loss didn’t drop the Falcons in the standings, but it did give the Lions some extra breathing room heading toward the final week of the regular season.
Analise Lucio said maintaining communication on the court was an issue for the Falcons.
“We went over this week to be selfless and playing for each other, I think we are still kind of on little islands by ourselves,” Lucio said. “I know I need to step up and bring our team more together and play for each other, rather than yourselves.”
It was a highly-contested match from the start, as the Lions used a late surge to win the first set and get things going on the right foot.
UTPB (14-10 overall, 9-7 conference) managed to clean things up in the second set, even with UTPB head coach Tim Loesch having to call for his players to adjust multiple times.
After the score was tied at 18-18, the Falcons outscored the Lions 7-3 to win the second set and even the contest out.
“We ran some new rotations today and they did great for our first time running them,” Loesch said. “There’s one of them that we got stuck in a few times, so we have some work to do in that particular rotation to not get stuck.”
The Falcons carried some positive momentum into the third set by building up an 8-3 lead, but Texas A&M-Commerce (13-9, 11-5) used a 7-0 scoring run to jump ahead.
The score would get tied at 20-20 before the Lions outscored UTPB 4-1 to seal a victory in the third set.
After that, the Lions had control of the scoreboard throughout the entirety of the fourth set and came away with the important victory over the Falcons.
Aquincia Strambler led the UTPB attack with 19 kills, while Lucio recorded 51 assists as she controlled the flow of the offense.
“I think we had a pretty good day attacking, I think [Lucio] did a great job running our offense,” Loesch said. “We had a couple hitters not connecting quite as well, but some of it was the defense of the other team.
“That’s just something we have to adjust better to and not just do what we want to do, do what’s available on the court against this particular team.”
UTPB will close out its regular season at 11 a.m. Saturday against No. 13 UT Tyler, which sits at the top of the conference with only one loss.
Loesch said the match will have a playoff atmosphere.
“We love playing at home, we’ve got a good fan base, the band playing and all that stuff,” he said. “We play well on our home court, so that’s exciting and it’s Senior Day.
“I’m mostly excited for the seniors, I want to make sure it’s a special day for them.”
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Texas A&M-Commerce def. UTPB
28-26, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21
Thursday at Falcon Dome
Kills — Texas A&M-Commerce: Essence Allen 18, Maddy Rashford 14, Maiya Dickie 8, Nicki Gonelli 7, Taryn Cast 4, Celeste Vela 3, Sydney Anderson 2. UTPB: Aquincia Strambler 19, Isela Murillo 11, Stephanie Sanchez 10, Taurie Magee 9, Analise Lucio 7, Chandra Reed 4, April Egwu 2.
Blocks — Texas A&M-Commerce: Dickie 3, Cast 2, Allen 1.5, Rashford 1.5, Vela 1.5, Anderson 1.5. UTPB: Strambler 2.5, Magee 2, Reed 2, Murillo 1, Sanchez 1, Egwu 0.5.
Assists — Texas A&M-Commerce: Vela 45, Lyric Hebert 4, Allen 1. UTPB: Lucio 51, Daylee Doggett 3, Sanchez 2.
Digs — Texas A&M-Commerce: Hebert 19, Vela 15, Allen 11, Cast 7, Riley Davidson 7. UTPB: Doggett 23, Murillo 15, Strambler 9, Lucio 9, Sanchez 7, Erika Lozano 6, Kaitlyn Bustamante 2, Netanya Allison 2, Egwu 1.
Aces — Texas A&M-Commerce: Hebert 1, Davidson 1. UTPB: Sanchez 1, Lozano 1, Bustamante 1.
Records
Texas A&M-Commerce 13-9 overall, 11-5 Lone Star Conference; UTPB 14-10, 9-7.
