BOX SCORE

HUNTSVILLE, Texas- The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team dropped a thriller to Southland Conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by a final tally of 3-1 (34-36, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22) Saturday morning at the Johnson Coliseum as part of the Bearkat Invitational.

The Broncs and Islanders went back and forth from the very beginning. The Broncs took the extended opening set 36-34. The opening set featured 18 ties and 11 lead changes. The Broncs took a six point lead after a 6-2 run that included a service ace from junior outside hitter Ijanae Holman to make the score 16-10.

The Islanders tied the set at 21 after back-to-back kills from Brooke Alverson. Later the Broncs trailed 32-31, but Shauna Miller's kill evened things up for the Broncs at 32-32. Late in the set Davis's kill made the score 35-34 setting up game point for UTPA. Davis and Miller then double-teamed on a block to give the Broncs the 36-34 opening set victory.

The Islanders rallied back with authority in the second set never trailing. The Islanders went out to an early 5-1 lead. The Broncs, after trailing 11-4, rattled off six straight points, capped off by a Macey Singleton kill to make the score 11-10 Islanders. The Islander would then roar back with a 13-1 run that included a pair of kills from Alverson and Jessica Korda to go up 24-11. The Broncs would rattle off five straight points to pull within 24-16, but an error by Singleton gave TAMUCC the second set win.

The third set was back and forth as well with UTPA taking the early advantage with the 4-2 score. The set saw nine ties and six lead changes. However, all the lead changes were early as TAMUCC took the lead for good at 12-11. That kicked off a 10-1 run for the Islanders as they took a 21-12 lead. They would go on to win 25-17.

In the fourth set, the Islanders took the early 7-3 advantage. The Broncs then rattled off five straight points to claim the lead at 8-7, which included a pair of service aces from Juri Franzen. After trailing 9-8, the Islanders rallied with a 7-2 run to take a five point advantage. The Broncs pulled within one at 22-21 following blocks from Davis and Holman. The Islanders took three of the next four points to take the set and the match 25-22.

Michelle McNamee led the Broncs on the attack with seven kills Krysta Freitas added five kills with 17 digs on the defensive end. Miller once again took the lead from the setter position with 28 total assists to lead the team. On the defensive end Franzen led the Broncs with 27 assists.

For the Islanders, Isabella Arcidiacono led on the attack with 14 kills while Alversn and Ashley Phelps added nine kills each. Logen Bourque led in assists with 35 while Micah Nolan led in digs with 23.