STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton stood toe to toe with the reigning Western Athletic Conference runners-up, but the Lopes outlasted the Texans and took the match 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 18-25, 22-25) Thursday evening in Wisdom Gym.
 
The Texans (10-12, 2-5 WAC) hit. 235 for the match while GCU (10-7, 4-2 WAC) hit .289. Ailie Hair and Breanna McDonough each tied career-highs in blocks for the Texans, with eight and six respectively.
 
GCU took set one behind a 5-0 run that got started with a kill from Ashley Lifgren while they were up 17-12 to make it 22-12 and put it out of reach. Lifgren finished with a match-high 16 kills.
 
Set two saw Tarleton respond, hitting a match-high .533 and winning the set 25-20. A Megan Haynes kill tied the match at 12 midway through and sparked four straight points as Emma Burke landed two kills and Haynes added another to put the Texans up 15-12. Haynes and Burke came through once again with back-to-back kills as Tarleton led 23-20, delivering the set two victory.
 
GCU took set three handily, but set four came down to the wire. Tarleton led 9-7 early following a McDonough kill and a Lope attack error. With the score sitting at 14-11 in favor of GCU, the two teams alternated points over the next 14 points scored and GCU came out of the stretch on top 21-18. The Texans came within a point at 23-22, but GCU scored the next two points to win the match.
 
Grayson Schirpik led the Texans with 12 kills, followed by Haynes with 11. Hair added eight kills on .538 hitting to her eight blocks. Megan Hodges had 36 assists for her sixth match of 30 plus assists.
 
Tarleton returns to action in Wisdom Gym on Saturday at 1 p.m. when California Baptist visits.