KINGSVILLE – No. 10 Tarleton couldn't withstand a Texas A&M-Kingsville rally in the first match of a south Texas road trip and fell 3-2 Friday night.
 
The Javelinas scored 15 of the first 25 points to begin the match before Adriana Darthuy landed her third kill of the set to start a 6-0 Tarleton run that gave the Texans a 16-15 edge in the opening set. The Javelinas answered with a 9-6 run to put the Texans up against the wall at 24-22, but Tarleton scored four straight points on back-to-back kills by Tatyana Tuialii-Umi and a pair of Kingsville errors to take the first set 26-24.
 
Tarleton was dominant from the get-go in the second set. The Texans had three runs of at least four consecutive points, including five straight to build a 9-3 lead early on. Tarleton would take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-11 win.
 
Kingsville bounced back to win each of the next two sets by identical 25-21 scores to force a fifth set. Tarleton fell behind 5-0 in the deciding set and, despite a valiant effort, was unable to overcome the early deficit in a 15-12 loss.
 
Darthuy and Tuialii-Umi led the way with 13 kills each. Darthuy finished second on the team with 21 digs for a double-double performance. Lauren Kersey also cracked double figures with 11 kills on a .346 hitting percentage with seven blocks and eight digs.
 
Amari Franklin also boasted a double-double performance with 26 assists and 10 digs while Kayla Brannon reeled off 22 assists of her own. Michaela Rodriguez led the team with 27 digs.
 
The Texans will look to return to the win column tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Laredo against Texas A&M International.