CANYON – The Tarleton TexAnn volleyball team came into its match against the No. 5-ranked West Texas A&M Lady Buffs having never won a match inside “The Box”. The TexAnns are now leaving Canyon with it's first-ever win over a WT team inside WTAMU Fieldhouse following a 3-2 (19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-11) win over the nationally ranked Lady Buffs.
 
The TexAnns improved to 10-4 overall with the win and 5-1 in Lone Star Conference matches. WT dropped just its second game of the season and are now 13-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
 
It was the first LSC loss for the Lady Buffs inside The Box since falling to Abilene Christian in the 2005 season. It is just the 14^th loss ever for the Lady Buffs at home.
 
Tarleton opened the first set with a kill from Stacie Murrah (OH, Jr, San Antonio), but the Lady Buffs took the next three points to take a 3-1 lead. A WT attack error would give the TexAnns the point and the side out, but WT managed to win four of the next six points to take a 7-4 lead before a service error made it a 8-4 game still in favor of the Lady Buffs.
 
A 5-3 run from the Lady Buffs put the TexAnns in a 13-7 hole, but Tarleton managed to put together a 3-0 run and pull within three points of WT, down 13-10 following Murrah's block. An attack error from the TexAnns gave a side out to WT and the Lady Buffs took advantage with a 4-1 lead to push the lead to 18-11.
 
The Lady Buffs pushed to within two points of the set, leading 23-14 before the TexAnns mounted a small comeback en route to a 4-0 run. Tarleton managed to get one more point in the match, but a kill from WT's Stormy Lancaster ended the set at 25-19 in favor of WT.
 
Meg Umbel (MB, Fr, San Antonio) led the TexAnns with three kills in the set, while Danielle Barker (S, Jr, Amarillo) tallied a team-high five assists. Murrah and Nikki McNorton (MB, Sr, Houston) each had two blocks in the set as well.
 
Tarleton stormed out to an early 8-1 lead in the second set, but the Lady Buffs came right back with a 7-2 run of its own to make it a 10-8 game in favor of the TexAnns. Tarleton won the next point to make it an 11-8 set, but WT's 3-0 run tied the set at 11-11.
 
An attack error from the TexAnns a few points later gave WT a 14-12 lead and forced Tarleton head coach Mary Schindler to take a timeout. Following its 13-4 run, WT would surmount a lead as large as six points which included going up set-point 24-18. Tarleton managed to get one more point out of the set before WT's Kameryn Hayes put down the kill to put the Lady Buffs up 2-0 following the 25-19 win.
 
The TexAnns again stormed out to an early lead, collecting the first four points of the third set before WT put its first point on the board. Tarleton took a 7-3 lead later in the set on a kill from Katie Covell (OH, So, Lytle), but the Lady Buffs followed with a 5-1 run and tied the set 8-8 following an attack error from the TexAnns.
 
Neither team would take more than a two-point lead throughout the remainder of the set, but Tarleton had a chance to win the set by three points after going up 24-22 following a WT attack error. The Lady Buffs called timeout and won the next point, but Tarleton picked up the set on another attack error by the Lady Buffs. Tarleton won the set 25-23 and trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth set.
 
WT opened the fourth set with a 4-1 lead, but a 6-1 run from the TexAnns later in the match tied the set at 9-9. The Lady Buffs would later go up 15-13 on a blocking error from the TexAnns, but Tarleton won the next two points to tie the match back up at 15-15.
 
WT took the lead by as many as three points on three different occasions, with the last one coming at 22-19, but McNorton put down a kill that helped spark the TexAnns to a 6-3 run to tie the set 25-25. Both teams traded points to make it 26-26, but Tarleton won the final two points following a Lady Buff attack error and Kayla Beck's (OH, Fr, Buda) kill that gave Tarleton the 28-26 win to tie the set at 2-2.
 
WT opened the fifth-and-deciding set with the first point, but back-to-back kills from Covell and a block from McNorton and Murrah gave the TexAnns a 3-1 lead. The Lady Buffs stormed back though, winning the next five points to take a 6-3 lead and force Tarleton to call a timeout.
 
Covell's kill finally killed the Lady Buff run and then she followed it with another kill to pull the TexAnns within a point, down 6-5. A double-touch from WT though tied the set at 6-6 before a service error gave the Lady Buffs a side out and a 7-6 advantage.
 
The Lady Buffs went up 8-6 following a back-row-blocker call on the TexAnns, but Tarleton responded with a 4-0 run and a 10-8 lead that led to WT head coach Jason Skoch to call a timeout.
 
Umbel and Barker recorded a block coming out of the timeout to take an 11-8 lead, but WT managed to get a side out with a kill to make it an 11-9 lead in the set for Tarleton. A TexAnn kill and an attack error from WT put Tarleton up 12-10. Another attack error from the Lady Buffs put the TexAnns within winning the match, up 13-10.
 
Covell put down another kill following the next serve from the TexAnns to take a 14-10 lead before a Lady Buff kill pulled WT within three points, down 14-11. Umbel then blocked WT's Laura Iwuchukwu on her attack, giving the Lady Buffs a 15-11 set win and its first victory ever inside WTAMU Fieldhouse.
 
Covell finished the evening with a match-high 15 kills and Murrah added nine to the mix as well. Barker finished the match with 36 assists and McNorton tallied a match-high nine blocks. Emily Klein (L, Jr, Amarillo) led the TexAnns with 24 digs on the back row for the TexAnns.
 
The TexAnns will return to action tomorrow night with a match at Eastern New Mexico. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m (MST) in Portales, N.M. WT will host Angelo State at The Box.