Trailing 2-0 to Tarleton State, UAFS rallied to force a fifth-set tiebreaker against the No. 18-ranked TexAnns, but the Lady Lions couldn't complete the comeback in their third match of the Desert Garden Inn Classic at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah.
Tarleton State won the match 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13, but UAFS still leads the all-time series 3-2.
The Lady Lions (5-3) will play the host Dixie State Trailblazers in the final match of the three-day, six-team event at 8 p.m. Live statistics and live stream will be available at
Tournament Central. Dixie State (4-1) beat Tarleton State (3-1), Western New Mexico (3-0) and Colorado-Colorado Springs (3-1) in the early matches of the tournament.
UAFS hit just 0.156 with 57 kills on 192 attempts with 27 errors. Senior middle hitter
Debra Rogers had 19 kills, while sophomore outside hitter
Rachel Williams had 11 and junior outside hitter
Anna Demmer had 10.
Freshman setter
Taylor Stoops had 46 assists, and sophomore right-side hitter
Erin Black served four of the Lady Lions' nine aces.
Tarleton State (6-2) collected 15 total blocks. Junior middle hitter Sofia Tonga had two solo blocks and four block assists, while senior middle hitter Hannah McManus had seven block assists. The TexAnns had 96 digs, and senior libero Adrianna Knutson had 20 digs to lead three TexAnns with double-digit digs.
The TexAnns compiled a 0.199 hitting percentage with 66 kills on 186 attempts with 29 errors. Junior outside hitter Adriana Darthuy and freshman right-side hitter Lauren Kersey each had 16 kills, while junior right-side hitter Tatyana Tuialii-Umi had 12. Senior setter Blanca Izquierdo and Kayla Brannon had 32 and 22 assists, respectively.
UAFS had 81 digs with five Lady Lions collecting double-digit digs. Stoops finished her double-double with 15 digs, while freshman libero
Pilar Onstad had 15 digs. Demmer polished off her double-double with 14 digs, as did Williams with 13 digs. Freshman defensive specialist
Lexi Castillow had 10 digs.
The Lady Lions had 12 total team blocks. Rogers had one solo block and block assists to lead the Lady Lions.
