COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Tarleton lost its first two games of the season Friday with back-to-back five-set losses to Missouri Western State and Colorado-Colorado Springs on the opening day of tournament action.
  
Tarleton dropped it first match of the season in the opener of the Steel and Silver Classic in Colorado Springs Friday morning with a five-set loss at the hands of Missouri Western State.
 
After the first opened a in a 6-6 draw, Missouri Western put together a 12-3 run to take a commanding 18-9 lead in the set. Tarleton battled back to pull even at 21-21 and 22-22, but couldn't overcome the deficit as the Griffins claimed the opening game 25-23.
 
Tarleton answered back by jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead in the second set.
 
The Griffins clawed back to even the score at 18-18 and force a Tarleton timeout, but the TexAnns responded out of the break when a Kelsey Raglin kill shot off a pass from Chandler Gow started a 7-2 Tarleton run down the stretch to secure a 25-20 win for the TexAnns and even the match at 1-1.
 
Missouri Western responded with an 8-2 run over the first 10 points of the third set and eventually carried the lead to 17-12, but Tarleton answered the call beginning with a kill shot from Hailey Roberts to make it a 13-17 score.
 
Tarleton clawed back to pull within three at 20-23 before surging ahead down the stretch. Kenya Alexander landed a kill to pull within two and start a run of five straight TexAnn points to give Tarleton the set 25-23. After Alexander's kill, Tarleton got three Griffin errors and the game-clinching kill shot from Roberts to win the set and take an advantage in the match.
 
As was the case in the third set, Missouri Western jumped out to a quick lead and forced the TexAnns to play from behind – as far back as 14-20, forcing head coach Mary Schindler to call a timeout.
 
Out of the break, Xzache Mathis landed a point to start a 9-4 Tarleton run down the stretch, but it wasn't enough to overcome the late deficit as the Griffins landed the final point to take the set 25-23 and force a fifth game.
 
The final set went to a 10-10 tie over the opening 20 points before Missouri Western landed three straight kills and got the final two points from Tarleton miscues to claim the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
 
Roberts pushed her string of consecutive matches with double-digit kills to 13 straight with 23 kills. She also had her fifth double-double of the season and the 22^nd of her career with 16 digs.
 
Alexander landed 13 kills while Raglin had 11 kills, in addition to six blocks. The defensive duo of Ayssa Garcia (17) and Adrianna Knutson (14) combined for 31 digs while Chandler Gow had a career-high 55 assists, topping her season and personal best of 53 that she set in the season opener against Chadron State.
  
Tarleton couldn't hold on to an early 2-0 lead and fell to Colorado-Colorado Springs 3-2 on the Mountain Lions' home court on the first day of the two-day tournament. The TexAnns fall to 5-2 after their second straight loss.
 
The TexAnns trailed UCCS 9-14 midway through the first set before the momentum shifted in the TexAnns' favor. Tarleton went on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 16 behind five UCCS errors. Chandler Gow's kill tied the score at 24 and Tarleton took the lead at 25-24, their first since 9-8.
 
The two teams continued to exchange points until the score was 30-30 when last week's LSC Offensive and Defensive player's of the week in Hailey Roberts and Meg Umbel took over. Roberts had four kills in the final five points including the winning point of the set, while Umbel blocked two UCCS attacks in the final points to give Tarleton the dramatic 34-32 win.
 
The first set featured 20 ties and eight lead changes while both teams had 19 kills.
 
After splitting the first 28 points of the second set, UCCS went on an 8-4 run to pull ahead from Tarleton before another TexAnn comeback in the final points.
 
Tarleton went on an 8-2 run behind kills from four different TexAnns with Roberts delivering the final attack for the second straight set to win 26-24 and take a commanding 2-0.
 
In the third set, UCCS jumped out to a 6-11 lead over Tarleton but the TexAnns climbed back to tie the score at 18 with back-to-back kills from Abby Mackey.  Kelsey Raglin and Kenya Alexander had kills to give Tarleton leads late in the third set but they couldn't hold off the Mountain Lions who won 24-26 to cut the match to 2-1.
 
UCCS led 6-11 to open up the fourth set when Tarleton worked the game back to a 2-point deficit at 16-18. The Mountain Lions pulled away, however, to take the fourth set 18-25 to force a deciding fifth set.