CANYON, Texas – The #9 Lady Buffs of West Texas battled back to force a fifth and deciding set on Friday afternoon before falling to the #4 Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis (25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 25-23, 13-15) during the opening match of the Colorado Premier Challenge at the Regis Fieldhouse in Denver, Colorado.
 
The Lady Buffs registered 58 kills on 173 swings with 28 attack errors to hit .173 as a team during the match with 54 assists, three aces, 82 digs and nine blocks. UMSL finished the afternoon with 60 kills on 179 attempts with 29 attack errors to hit .173 as a team with 56 assists, eight aces, 75 digs and eight blocks.
 
WT was led offensively by Emma Becker as the junior from Liberty Hill, Texas had 16 kills on 44 swings with seven attack errors for an attack percentage of .205 to go along with 13 digs for her third career double-double while Currie Marusak (10) and Camy Jones (14) also finished the double-digit kills. Blair Moreland paced the WT offense with 19 assists and 11 digs for a double-double of her own while Bryli Contreras led the way in the back row with a match-high 33 digs to go along with nine assists.
 
The Tritons were led by Alayna Santel with a team-high 16 kills on 47 swings with six attack errors to hit .213 followed by Maggie Johnson (14), Brooklyn Young (10) and Iyannah Jackson (10) in double-digit kills. Caitlin Bishop dished out a match-high 55 assists to go along with 10 digs for a double-double while Skylar Weaver had 22 digs in the back row.
 
MATCH NOTES

• Friday morning marked the fifth all-time meeting on the court between the Lady Buffs and Tritons, WT is 3-2 in the series
• The Lady Buffs played in their second five-set match of the season, falling to 0-2 

UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs continue pool play this afternoon as they take on the host #24 Regis Rangers with first serve set for 3:00 p.m. CT in Denver.