STEPHENVILLE, Texas – No. 5 seed Texas Woman's saw the 2018 season come to end Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament as they fell, 3-0, against No. 4 West Texas A&M.

Coming less than a week since TWU (18-13) last played WT, the Pioneers hoped to get the better of the Lady Buffs on their third attempt of the season after the two previous matches ended in five-set losses, but they were swept 22-25, 20-25, 14-25.

"I think the tournament is just different in general," TWU head coach Jeff Huebner said. "West Texas is a good team with a good program. Our kids were excited to play them and felt like they had a good opportunity in front of them."

The Pioneers shot up to an early five-point lead in the first set thanks to three kills in a row by juniors Courtney Noel and Caroline Noel, but the Lady Buffs (19-12) soon ran up a five-point run to overcome the Pioneers at 13-11. After several more lead changes, WT got their final point with a kill from Selena Batiste to end the set, 22-25.

"West Texas played really well," Huebner said. "I think that we just had a couple of breaks that just didn't go our way. There were a few great swings by Courtney (Noel) that WT dug that just ended up in our court where nobody was. They grabbed some momentum out of it and continued to run from there."

The Lady Buffs started the second set on a five-point run that had the TWU defense scrambling. The Pioneers got on the board after a timeout when sophomore Paris Cosley sent an attack that went wild on reception, creating enough momentum to keep Texas Woman's scoring points and closing the gap with WT. Cosley would also land the Pioneers' final kill of the set, pushing the Lady Buffs back at set point, but a quick recovery gave the Lady Buffs the second frame, 20-25.

"Paris has had a pretty good couple of weeks here," Huebner said. "She was good last week for us with Eastern New Mexico. She's played multiple positions for us on the inside and the outside and we're excited for her to continue to develop."

The two teams continued to trade point in the third set. TWU tied the score 5-5 with back-to-back kills from Courtney Noel and freshman Taylor Frederick, but WT's precision and consistency prevailed and they would hold on to the lead through the rest of the match. Unable to find a successful break through the Lady Buffs' defense, the Pioneers hit a game low .091 and lost their third set, 14-25.

"Courtney continues to play well, they keyed in on her early and she did a great job of adjusting and making decisions," Huebner said.

For the match, the Pioneers hit .128 to the Lady Buffs' .230, attempting 141 swings and landing 40 kills. Junior Katy Ranes had a game-leading 37 assists, while Frederick was TWU's leader on offense with 11 kills.

"I really think that Taylor Frederick, as a freshman, played great for us," Huebner said. "She may have been our most consistent attacker today, so for a freshman to come into the game and be consistent and play against a team at that level is really impressive."

On the defensive side, TWU put up three blocks and junior Bailey French added 23 digs to her single-season school record which goes in the books at 686. 

The Pioneers recorded their best season at 18-13 (.581) since going 24-8 (.750) in 2015. It was the final game for senior Makayla Mayfield of Decatur.

"Makayla has really done a great job of leaving a legacy in our program of loyalty and commitment," Huebner added.