CANYON, Texas (Nov. 7) – The TWU volleyball team suffered a straight-set defeat at #23 West Texas A&M, 24-26, 22-25 and 12-25, on Friday night in Canyon, TX.  The loss snapped Pioneers' season-high eight-game win streak and dropped their record to 18-8 on the season and 11-4 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
Senior Jaqueline Santos led the Pioneers on offense with a game-high 12 kills.  Freshman Elizabeth Pennington added 10 kills and a TWU team-high five total blocks.  Sophomore Mallory Kuechle had nine kills for the Pioneers while senior Morgan Wilson led TWU on defense with a game-high 11 digs.
 
In the first set, the Pioneers built a 19-13 lead before West Texas A&M scored nine straight points to take a 22-19 lead.  Trailing 23-21, TWU scored three straight points to go on top 24-23 but the Lady Buffs answered with a 3-0 run to capture the set.
 
In the second set, the Pioneers kept it close before WTAMU built a 23-17 lead.  TWU rallied with a 5-0 run but back-to-back kills by the Lady Buffs gave them a three-point win.
 
In the third set, it was all West Texas A&M from start to finish.  The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 10-5 lead before winning the set by 13 points.  The Pioneers posted just  a .067 hitting percentage in the third set.
 
"We played well in the first two sets but fell apart in the third set," said TWU head coach Shelly Barberee.  "We built a nice lead in the first set but let them back in with our own mistakes.  In the second set, we fell behind early and made a nice run at the end.  WT was able to stop our run with couple of kills.  In the third, we struggled on both offense and defense.  We need to communicate better and play as a team."
 
The Pioneers will return to action when they close out their 2014 regular season at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Nov 7.  First serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (CST) in Greyhound Arena.