RIVERSIDE, California – Tarleton State falls short to California Baptist for the Texans first conference loss.  
 
The Purple and White totaled 66 digs, 53 kills, 14 block assists and five service aces on the match. Prior to this match, the Texans won six consecutive matches, tying for the longest winning streak for the program since 2019. Tarleton State is now 11-6 overall and has a 2-1 conference record. California Baptist holds the longest winning streak in the WAC with an overall record of 10-4 and are 3-0 in conference. 
 
Allison Bryant led the team in kills with 19 and Rajini Fitzmaurice followed closely behind with 16 of her own. Breanna McDonough saw eight kills on the match. Megan Hodges compiled 23 assists for the team and Charlize Ching contributed 17 assists. Hodges also led the Texans in service aces with three and Emma Burke tallied two service aces for the night. 
 
Madison Frank and McDonough tied for the most block assists with four each and Bryant compiled three. Matti Theurer led the team with 17 digs for the night with Hodges adding 15 digs. Bryant totaled 20.5 points to lead Tarleton State and Fitzmaurice racked up 16.5 points to take second place for the most points on the evening. 
 
In the first set, the Purple and White came out with an unstoppable energy. Fitzmaurice claimed the first point of the set with a kill that put the Texans up, where they remained throughout the duration of the stanza. Defensive pressure from Burke and McDonough kept the ball rolling for Tarleton State. Back-to-back kills from Burke and Fitzmaurice followed by an ace from Megan Hodges put California Baptist down by five with nothing on the board. Laura Walewska laid down a kill for the Lancers to claim their first point on the board. With a 5-1 lead, Burke put in some work for the Purple and White with another kill followed by a solo block to tally a couple of points for the Texans. Tarleton State continued the pattern of consistent kills and a solid defense to hold the lead and keep CBU at an arm's length. The Lancers had their fair share of offensive work with kills from Michalina Rola, Nicole Mauser and Walewska to lead California Baptist. Although CBU stayed in the fight, the opening lead from the Texans paired with a consistently fierce energy gave the Purple and White an advantage that would carry them through the match to see a 25-16 set final. 
 
The second set began with an ace from the Lancers to find their first point on the board. A strong CBU defense and a kill from Walewska saw California Baptist up 3-0. Tarleton State claimed their first point on the board after Burke and Fitzmaurice blocked an attack from Mauser. However, Mauser followed up the block from the Texans with a kill to see the Purple and White down 1-4. Similar to the first set, the opening points gave the Lancers the advantage and they led the Texans throughout the course of set two. McDonough laid down a kill for the second point for Tarleton State, but CBU responded with two consecutive kills until Bryant put one down for the Texans. Back-to-back kills from Fitzmaurice tallied points five and six for the team but a service error from the Purple and White followed by an ace from the Lancers gave California Baptist the lead, 10-6. CBU saw a six-score run adding some distance between the teams on the board. The Texans stayed in the fight with kills from Bryant, Fitzmaurice, Burke and McDonough but several errors from Tarleton State and kill after kill from California Baptist saw the Lancers take set two, 25-20. 
 
In the third stanza, the CBU defense put up the first point for California Baptist. Bryant responded with a kill for the Purple and White. A block from McDonough and Bryant saw the first tie of the match with the score 3-3. The Lancers quickly added some distance with a four-score run consisting of a kill from Eliana Posada, followed by a block from Chandler Gorman and Posada and two errors from Tarleton State. Several kills from the Texans kept the Purple and White in the set but offensive errors from Tarleton State and an intensely competitive offense from CBU closed out set three with California Baptist on top, 25-18. 
 
In the fourth and final set of the match, a kill from McDonough claimed the first point for the Texans. Mauser and Walewska quickly replied with a kill each to take the lead. Bryant tied the set with a second point for Tarleton State and an error from the Lancers put the Purple and White ahead. A kill from Rola tied the set at the third point but Bryant laid down another kill for the Texans and Frank and Bryant blocked an attack from Mauser for a two-point lead. The Purple and White remained in the lead until point 18 for CBU came from a ball handling error from Tarleton State. The frame continued to be a back-and-forth battle as each side matched point for point until Mauser laid down a kill for the lead and Reese Reed saw back-to-back aces. With a 24-21 score, Rola tallied the set point for the Lancers to finalize the match. 
 
Tarleton State will continue conference play with another match on the road. The Texans will face Grand Canyon on Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. CT.