TYLER, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team suffered its third loss of the season on Friday night, a 25-14, 25-17, 25-12 defeat at the hands of the No. 18 UT Tyler Patriots in Lone Star Conference action at the Louise Harrington Patriot Center in Tyler, Texas.

The Javelinas' record now falls to 11-3 overall and 5-3 in LSC play. UT Tyler stays perfect at 13-0 on the year and 9-0 in conference competition.

Leading all players in digs on Friday night was junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas), who picked up 14. Junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) led the Javelinas in assists with 17 while freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore Tammy Jo Grohman (San Antonio, Texas) tied for a team-high with five kills apiece.

The Patriots started the first set by notching four of the first five points and they never looked back, hitting .355 as a team in the stanza. They used a 7-0 run midway through the game to jump ahead 20-10 and sealed the set soon after on an error by TAMUK.

Each team had a lead in the early part of the second frame, as TAMUK went ahead 3-0, then UTT moved into a 9-5 lead, but the Javs battled back to close within one at 13-12. It was then the Patriots put together a run that put them in command, taking seven of the next nine points to make the score 20-14. On the Patriots second set point, Evelyn Torres provided a kill for a 2-0 lead for the hosts.

UTT used lengthy runs at the beginning and end of the third set to ice the match. The Patriots raced to a 10-3 advantage and kept the Javelinas from cutting that deficit to less than six. The home team then closed out the night by winning the final seven rallies, capped by an ace from Taylor Stoops.

Another road test awaits for the Javelinas on Saturday, when they'll visit Commerce, Texas for a 1 p.m. match against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions. Stay up-to-date with everything related to Javelina volleyball all season long by following @Javelina_VB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com.

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