- Box Score

ABILENE – Tarleton State (14-13, 8-7) continues to stumble through Lone Star Conference with its fifth loss in six games, falling Tuesday to Abilene Christian (16-11, 10-5) in four sets.
Tarleton couldn't put the Wildcats away, despite losing two of the four sets by the minimum two points including a 26-24 fourth set.
 After falling behind 1-4 to open the match, the TexAnns responded with a 6-1 push to take a 7-5 lead.
The match stayed tight over the next 26 points to knot the score at 19. Tarleton never led by more than two or trailed by less than one over that stretch.
ACU then struck for a quick 4-1 push to lead 23-20 before a kill by Nikki McNorton brought the TexAnns to 23-21 with the serve. Tarleton couldn't produce, however, and fell to the Wildcats 25-23.
The second set proved to be closer than the 25-17 would indicate.
Tarleton built an early 11-5 lead before Abilene Christian answered with a 9-3 run to knot the score at 14-14.
Then the TexAnns took over.
Tarleton scored four straight on kills by Flynn Harrell, Ashley Rine, and Breawn Waynes as well as a service ace by Danielle Barker.
ACU cut the Tarleton lead to 19-17 before the TexAnns ended the set with six straight points on the strength of a Barker kill, two ACU errors and three McNorton kills.
In the third set, Tarleton built a lead and maintained, at least a one point lead, until ACU tied the score at 8-8.
The teams tied the score 10 more times until 19-19 before ACU ended the set on a 6-1 run to take the set 25-20.
ACU took control of the fifth set from the get-go, jumping out the a quick 5-2 lead.
Tarleton pecked away at the lead, edging the Wildcats for a 15-12 run to tie the set 17-17 for the first time of the set.
A kill by Katie Covell gave the TexAnns their first lead of the set at 18-17. Tarleton relinquished the lead immediately but regained it at 21-19 with kills by Stacie Murrah and McNorton.
After an ACU timeout, Covell extended the lead to 23-19 with another kill.
Tarleton couldn't finish the comeback, however, as ACU finished the set with a 7-1 run to claim the match.
Murrah led the team with 13 kills and a .286 hit percentage (among player with at least five kills), while McNorton (12) cracked double figures in kills for the fourth straight match. Harrell and Covell added 10 kills each.
Jessie Hartman led the TexAnns with 24 assists while Barker added 21. Emily Klein (21) and Harrell (20) led the team in digs while topping the 20-dig plateau.
Tarleton returns to the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym Thursday for its final home stand of the season, beginning with Cameron at 7 p.m.
It will be autograph night for the TexAnns, who be on hand after the contest to sign photos for the fans.
For more information on Tarleton volleyball, please visit TarletonSports.com.