FORT SMITH, Ark. (Nov. 11, 2023) – In their final match of the regular season, the Texas Woman's volleyball team fell to the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith in four sets on Saturday afternoon.
TWU (19-8, 11-5) won set two against UAFS (22-7, 12-4) on the road, but lost two straight to fall to the Lions on Saturday.
While the regular season has come to an end, the Pioneers have clinched a spot in the 2023 Lone Star Conference Championships. The official final rankings and seeds for the 2023 LSC Championships will be released tonight after the final LSC regular season game is played.
"Today, we couldn't quite find our footing at UAFS, who played very well," TWU Volleyball head Coach
Jeff Huebner said. "We had some great play from
Kaia Saylor and
Kady Hansen throughout the whole match. Conference tournament this week is what we are most looking forward to and the opportunities that come with it. Our program commitment to the process and growth that it takes to be great in our league is exciting. It is an awesome time to be a Pioneer!"
In the match, the Pioneers were led on offense by two players with double-digit kills –
Kaia Saylor recorded 15 kills and hit .484, and
Tori Woods finished the match with 10 kills. TWU recorded 49 kills in the match.
TWU topped the service aces category in the match with seven.
Kiana Reed topped the ace leader board for the Pioneers with three.
UAFS recorded the most blocks in the match with eight to TWU's three. However, the Pioneers topped the Lions in assists in the match, 48-47.
Grace Reynolds once again led TWU in the assist category with 22 and added 18 digs, marking her 15th match this season and fourth straight with 20 or more assists. With her 18 digs, Reynolds also closed the regular season with her third straight double-double and 11th of the season.
Joining Reynolds with double-digit assists was two Pioneers:
Kiana Reed and
Luna França. Reed finished the match with 15 assists and 11 digs – her ninth double-double of the season. Additionally, França closed the regular season with her second double-double of the season with 10 assists and a season high 31 digs.
In the first set, TWU battled tightly down the stretch. Late in the set, TWU scored two straight with a kill by
Malia Viernes and a block by
Cara Pool to come within three, 23-20. After UAFS set up set point, the Pioneers responded by scoring to bring the score to 24-21. Nevertheless, the Lions closed the set on the next point with a kill, 25-21.
After falling in set one, the Pioneers regrouped and re-energized to fight back and claim the equalizer in set two. Back-to-back kills by Viernes gave TWU the three point early advantage, 7-4. TWU continued to build upon the lead, going on a 4-0 run to take a six point lead, 16-10. The Pioneers would never trail in the set, as they went on a 4-0 run to bring up set point, 24-13. UAFS would score one more point before a block by Reynolds and Woods ended the set in the Pioneers favor, 25-14.
Set three was another back-and-forth affair between the two teams. After trailing for much of the beginning of the set, an ace by
Eduarda Dutra tied the set at nine each. The score would be tied four more times in set three. Then, late in the set, with the score 19-18, UAFS would mount a 5-0 run to take the set point lead 24-18. After a Lions' service error, which brought the score to 24-19, UAFS closed the set 25-19 and took the 2-1 match lead.
In set four, the Lions opened with a 6-0 lead and kept the lead for the remainder of the set, as UAFS closed the match 3-1, after winning set four 25-15.
The match concluded the regular season for the Pioneers, as they will be action next in the 2023 LSC Championships for postseason.
-PIONEERS-
