CANYON, Texas – Thursday's night season opener at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box" turned into the Top-25 showdown that everyone expected as the #3 Lady Buffs battled back from a two-set deficit before falling in a five set thriller (20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 12-15) to the #18 Ferris State Bulldogs in front of 691 fans in Canyon to close out the opening day of the BritKare Lady Buff Classic.
 
The Lady Buffs registered 60 kills on 178 swings with 26 attack errors to hit .191 on the night with 55 assists, seven aces, 78 digs and 10 blocks. Ferris State finished the night with 65 kills on 175 swings with 23 attack errors to hit .240 as a team with 56 assists, three aces, 84 digs and nine blocks.
 
Emma Becker led the way for the Lady Buffs as the junior from Liberty Hill had 17 kills on 46 attacks with three errors to hit .304 with three assists, two aces and nine digs to finish just shy of a double-double. Freshman Kaycee Cavanaugh impressed for the Lady Buffs with 13 kills and 19 digs for a double-double in her first collegiate match, Bryli Contreras led the way in the back row with 26 digs while Camy Jones and Taytum Stow had six blocks each.
 
Olivia Henneman-Dallape led all players with 23 kills in the match as the senior hit .315 on the night with 10 digs and three blocks for a double-double. Chelsie Freeman chipped in 15 kills for the Bulldogs to go along with six blocks while Kaylee Maat paced the offense with 45 digs and Leah Byult had 27 digs in the back row.
 
MATCH NOTES

• Ferris State snaps West Texas A&M's 30-match win streak which was the second longest in the nation at any level of NCAA volleyball
• The Bulldogs are now 2-2 all-time against the Lady Buffs
• The match featured six returning AVCA All-Americans battle in the season opener, three from WT (Contreras, Stow, Becker) and three from Ferris State (Henneman-Dallape, Maat, Nowicki) 

UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs return to the court tomorrow afternoon against LSC foe Texas A&M International with first serve set for 12:00 p.m. followed by a battle with #15 Central Missouri at 6:00 p.m. in Canyon.