STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Revenge was not in the cards for Texas Woman's as they faced Lone Star Conference rival #24 Tarleton State Friday night, losing in three (21-25, 16-25, 16-25).

Coming off a three-game winning streak, the Pioneers (6-3) struggled to hold their own in their conference opener against the TexAnns (7-2). Tarleton State was last year's champion in the Lone Star Conference Volleyball Tournament, scoring victory in the final game over TWU. Pioneer hopes were high to settle the score, but in the end it was the TexAnns' strong defense and attacks that swept the Pioneers.

"I think that we can learn a lot from our performance tonight," TWU head coach Jeff Huebner said. "We learned a lot about how tough the LSC is on the road, and the toughness it takes to execute a game plan and stay in there."

The Pioneers led on attack attempts but found difficulty breaking the TexAnns' momentum in the later sets. TWU senior outside hitter Makayla Mayfield and freshman middle blocker Trixie Oche kept the pressure on but could not string together kills. Mayfield led the Pioneers' offense, tallying 11 point to tie with Tarleton State's Hannah McManus and Amber Strange.

"We started the first and second sets really strong and we had good intent, but we just couldn't stay committed to what we needed to do throughout the set," Huebner said.

The Pioneers hit for .094 percent in the match with 33 kills out of 117 attempts. Junior setter Katy Ranes proved herself to be a power player, setting 30 assists for the Pioneers. Junior libero Bailey French had a game high of 15 digs, with Mayfield and junior defensive specialist Erin Jones both bringing in ten. Both teams counted four service aces.

Texas Woman's stays on the road for a 2 p.m. Saturday conference match at Angelo State (7-3).