The University of Texas - Pan American women's volleyball team (7-14) split two matches on Saturday (Oct. 22), defeating Prairie View A&M (11-14) and then falling to TCU (14-9) in the nightcap at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
UTPA 3, Prairie View 0 (30-15, 30-17, 30-21)
The Lady Broncs made quick work of the Lady Panthers with excellent offensive production. As a team, they finished with a .278 hitting percentage, their highest of the season. The team finished with 48 kills compared to just 18 assists.
Three Lady Broncs finished with a match-high 10 kills. Heather Bravo (Las Vegas, NV/Durango H.S.) was one of them while also recording seven digs and notching a .273 hitting percentage. Kellie Phillips (Chandler, AZ/Corona del Sol H.S.) recorded a double-double (kills-digs) with 11 digs to go along with her 10 kills. Danielle Holthe (Covina, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial) was the third with 10 kills while also putting up four block assists.
Newcomer Chelsea Blakely (Houston, TX/J. Frank Dobie H.S.) set up the Lady Bronc offense all day with a match-high 40 assists plus notching four service aces. Chrissie Carrigan (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Mount Douglass S.S.) once again led the team with a match-high 16 digs.
For the Lady Panthers, Crystal Stigler paced the offense with seven kills while Litiana Vakasausau recorded 14 assists and Milcah Whitaker finished with a team-high 10 digs..
TCU 3, UTPA 1 (30-20, 30-20, 30-32, 31-29)
In the Lady Broncs' second match of the night, they faced off against a tough squad from TCU, who earlier in the day defeated Prairie View A&M. UTPA looked like two different teams in this match, being completely overmatched in the first two and then playing two good, tight games.
"It's unfortunate that we didn't play to our abilities, especially in the first two games. That is something we need to correct," said head coach Dave Thorn.
Newcomer Phillips recorded a team-high 18 kills and also recorded 16 digs for her second double-double (kills-digs) of the day. Holthe notched 15 kills while Bravo finished with 11 kills and 12 digs.
The glaring difference in the match was the defensive play of the Horned Frogs. As a team, TCU dominated the net with 19 blocks compared to UTPA with 6.
The Lady Broncs finished with a lowly .082 hitting percentage, recording 57 kills with 42 errors on 183 total attacks. The Horned Frogs, on the other hand, finished with 62 kills with just 29 errors on 176 total attacks for a .188 hitting percentage.
Anna Vaughn led TCU with a match-high 20 kills while Talaya Whitfield recorded a match-high 35 digs.
The Lady Broncs are in action again on Friday (Oct. 28) against Utah Valley State at for the home finale
UTPA Sports Information
