BOX SCORE

NEWARK, New Jersey- The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) volleyball team saw their three match win streak came to an end Saturday afternoon as they fell to their Great West Conference rival the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) at the Fleisher Center in New Jersey.

The Broncs (4-14, 1-1) had won the previous three meetings between the two schools before Saturday's match. The Highlanders (6-11, 1-1) entered the match winners of two of their last three matches, but directly off a 3-1 loss to GWC rival Houston Baptist.

The entire match was well played on both sides and despite the 3-0 outcome, the Broncs battled back and forth with the Highlanders with a combined 16 ties and eight lead changes.

In the opening set the Broncs drew first blood on a kill from Diara Reynolds. The Broncs were never able to build a lead of more than two points as the Highlanders kept it close in the early stages of the set. Janet Snell's kill tied the match at 9-9 and began a 5-1 run for NJIT, which gave them a 13-10 advantage, a lead they didn't relinquish. The Highlanders took the first set 25-19 with a Reynolds attack error giving NJIT the final point of the game.

The second set was very similar to the opening stanza as there were eight ties and four lead changes. The Broncs took a 5-3 lead after an Ijanae Holman kill, their first lead of the set. The Highlanders rallied back with five straight points, capped off by a Julia Colombo kill to take an 8-5 advantage and prompting a UTPA timeout. Late in the set, a pair of errors by the Highlanders gave the lead back to the Broncs at 21-20 forcing an NJIT timeout.

The Highlanders regained the lead at 22-21 after an Anna Mercado service ace. The Broncs pulled to within one at 24-23 after Michelle McNamee's kill. Renata Pandolfo dashed the Broncs hopes of extending the set with her kill to give NJIT the 25-23 second set victory.

In the finale, the Broncs took the first point on a Mercado service error, but the Highlanders responded with three straight points to take a 3-1 lead and took control of the match from there. NJIT extended their lead to eight points at 14-6 after a Reynolds attack error. The Broncs responded with an 8-1 run to pull within a single point at 15-14 with Holman's kill prompting an NJIT timeout. The Broncs would get no closer as the Highlanders outscored the Broncs 10-5 for the rest of the set to take the 25-19 third game victory and 3-0 match win.

Holman paced the UTPA offense with 11 kills while pitching in with eight digs defensively. Krysta Freitas chipped in with 10 kills and six digs. Shauna Miller finished with 26 assists on the afternoon. On defense Juri Franzen led the Broncs with 13 digs.

Janet Snell led the Highlanders with 12 kills and 17 digs defensively for the double-double. Pandolfo chipped in with 10 kills and eight digs. Audrey Snell added 14 kills on defense.

The Broncs complete their three-match road swing on Monday when the travel to face Prairie View A&M. The match is scheduled for a 6:30 PM start time. The Broncs will continue their home schedule next Saturday when they host GWC rival Houston Baptist with a 2:00 PM scheduled start time.