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EDINBURG – The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs volleyball team fell to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos 3-1 on Saturday at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
 
The Kangaroos (14-12, 8-6 WAC) took the first set 25-18, but the Broncs (13-18, 2-12 WAC) came back to win the second set 25-17. The Kangaroos won the third set 25-18 and the fourth set 25-15.
 
Sophomore Haley Durham led the Broncs with 10 kills. Senior Nycole Masaki had a match-high 29 assists. Junior Shanice Faison posted a team-high 15 digs. Redshirt junior Maria Kliefoth recorded a match-high tying four blocks.
 
Three Kangaroos reached double-figures in kills, led by Sydney Crimmins, who had 13 kills and a team-high 19 digs, and Jessica Hendin, who had 13 kills with 10 digs. Emma Hagedorn added 10 kills and a team-high four blocks. Kaylyn Brandt recorded a team-high 28 assists.
 
The Broncs held the lead for much of the first half of the first set, going up as many as three at 9-6 on a kill by junior Krysta Freitas that capped off a 4-1 run. The Kangaroos responded with a 13-6 run to take a 19-15 lead on a Hendin kill. The Broncs got back to within three at 21-18 on a kill by sophomore San Benito alum Kasey Sanchez kill, but the Kangaroos scored the final four points of the set to go up 1-0.
 
Durham recorded two kills to bookend a 5-1 Broncs run to open the second set. Kansas City took advantage of three errors to get within 6-4, but the Broncs extended their lead to four for the first time at 12-8 on an attack error by Crimmins, and then seven on a bad set by Nicole Wemhoff that made it 20-13 en route to tying the match at 1-1.
 
The Kangaroos hopped out to a 4-1 third set lead, but the Broncs responded with three-straight points off a timeout to tie the set. The teams traded points over the next few serves before the Kangaroos extended their lead to 12-8 on a Skyler Muff kill. The Broncs pulled back within one twice at 15-14 on a Faison kill and 16-15 on a Taryn Miller service error, but the Kangaroos scored the next three points as part of a 5-1 run to pull away and take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Kangaroos took a quick 8-3 lead in the fourth set. The Broncs scored five of the next seven points to pull within 10-8. The Broncs were within 11-9 after a block by Kliefoth, but that's as close as they got.
 
The Broncs play their final road match of the season on Friday at 8 p.m. when they visit Grand Canyon.