LUBBOCK, Texas – Tarleton took their first loss of the season to Texas Tech in straight sets on Tuesday evening at United Supermarkets Arena.
 
The Texans (3-1) battled throughout the match, taking the lead midway through both the first and second sets, but Texas Tech (3-0) would answer each time with a run down the stretch. The Texans showed tremendous fight, frustrating the 2021 NCAA Tournament squad all through the match.
 
Grayson Schirpik led the way for Tarleton with 11 kills, her second double-digit kill effort of the season. She also finished with a team-high eight digs. Breanna McDonough followed with eight kills of her own, hitting at a .375 clip which was a team-high for the Texans. Megan Hodges paced Tarleton with 14 assists, while Melina Maldonado added 10.
 
The first set was intense and back and forth. Tarleton jumped out to an early 4-2 lead behind kills from McDonough and Megan Haynes and two Red Raider errors. They extended the lead to 7-4 at one point after back-to-back errors from Texas Tech. The teams traded points until it was all tied at 15. Tech went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 22-15 which ultimately catapulted them to the 25-18 set one win.
 
Set two was similar to the first, with the teams trading the lead back and forth. Texas Tech took a 9-5 lead after three straight Texan errors, but Tarleton fought back to tie the game up at 11-11. Texas Tech kept coming on strong, using their height to their advantage, but Tarleton kept the set within five points the whole way. A kill from Schirpik made it 23-20 Texas Tech and forced a Red Raider timeout but Tech scored the next two points to take the set.
 
McDonough led Tarleton with four kills in set two, with Haynes and Schirpik finishing with three each.
 
Texas Tech jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the final set, but once again the Texans showed grit, going on a 4-1 run that saw kills from Brianna Rhodes and Schirpik, to make it 11-9. Tech distanced themselves from Tarleton the rest of the way to take the set 25-17.
 
Tarleton returns to Wisdom Gym on Friday for the Dr. Pam Littleton Classic. They host Southeastern Louisiana, Tennessee State and Prairie View A&M. Friday sees matches with SLU at 10 a.m. and TSU at 6 p.m. Saturday will wrap things up with PVAMU at 5 p.m. Tournament passes can be purchased here.