DENTON – Tarleton State dropped its fifth match of the season Saturday afternoon in a four-set loss to Texas Woman's at Kitty Magee Arena.
 
Fresh off its fourth straight win and sixth sweep of the season last night in Commerce, the TexAnns carried the momentum into the opening set against the Pioneers by jumping out to a quick 6-1 advantage. Kelsey Raglin got Tarleton on the board and Kaitlyn White served up five straight for the quick lead.
 
After Texas Woman's pulled within two at 7-5, a Hailey Roberts kill started a 10-2 TexAnn run to extend the lead to 17-7. Despite a late Pioneer surge, Tarleton went on to take the opening set 25-21.
 
The Pioneers used the momentum gained down the stretch of set one and took it into the second game as they opened up on a 10-4 run to force a Tarleton timeout. Tarleton got as close as four points on two different occasions but couldn't gain any more ground as Texas Woman's evened the match with a 25-16 win.
 
In the third set, Texas Woman's stayed in control as the TexAnns fell behind 20-9 en route to a 25-14 loss. However, Tarleton did manage to split the final 10 points to help gain some steam heading into the fourth set.
 
Tarleton and Texas Woman's were in a dead heat through the first 32 points at 16-16 before TWU pulled away with a 9-5 run down the stretch to win the game 25-21 and the match 3-1.
 
Roberts led the team with 13 kills while Ashley Rine landed 12 kills of her own. Katie Covell led the team with 11 digs while Roberts also cracked double figures with 10. Emily Medlin (21) and Chandler Gow (18) combined for 39 assists.
 
Tarleton will remain on the road as they visit St. Mary's Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in San Antonio.