CANYON, Texas – The fifth ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M fell to #15 Point Loma in a four-set match at the Auraria Event Center, with scores of 25-23, 16-25, 24-26, 22-25 on Friday night during pool-play action at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
In a closely contested first set, West Texas A&M capitalized on a strong performance from
Taytum Stow, who notched three early kills, contributing to a 6-2 lead. The Lady Buffs built momentum with a mid-set surge, extending their lead to 18-13 after a series of attack errors by Point Loma and a service ace from
Emma Becker. Despite Point Loma rallying back to tie the game at 23-23 with Abigail Nua's aggressive play, WT secured the set 25-23 with a decisive block by Becker and Stow on Nua's attack.
The second set began with West Texas A&M capitalizing on an early attack error by Point Loma to take a quick lead, but Point Loma responded with a series of kills to shift momentum. The Lady Buffs, with key contributions from Becker and
Bromli Watson, kept close at 15-13 but were unable to withstand a late surge by Point Loma's Kira Federico, who delivered three service aces to help secure a 25-16 finish.
In a tightly contested third set, Point Loma edged the Lady Buffs 26-24. The set began with a back-and-forth exchange, including a kill by
Miranda Acosta that tied the score at 1-1. Despite Watson facilitating a comeback with multiple assists and a critical block by
Currie Marusak and
Sharlotte McClintock at 24-24, Point Loma's Jill Leslie and Saren Rogers delivered decisive kills to close out the set.
The fourth set saw the Lady Buffs establish an early 8-2 lead, fueled by a series of Point Loma errors and kills by Marusak. However, Point Loma rallied late, led by Nua's offensive pressure, including three consecutive kills to tie the score at 22. Nua's continued efforts secured a 25-22 set victory for Point Loma, concluding the match.
Sharlotte McClintock led the defensive effort for the Buffs with six blocks, contributing 6.5 points. Stow posted a strong offensive performance with 13 kills on 33 attempts for a .303 hitting percentage, earning 14 points. Watson facilitated the offense with 38 assists, distributing effectively across the floor.
Kaycee Cavanaugh added six kills on 13 attempts, achieving a .462 hitting percentage while adding 13 digs.
Point Loma recorded 72 kills to West Texas A&M's 48 in the closely contested non-conference encounter. Nua led Point Loma with 30 kills and 15 digs, while Leslie's efficiency stood out with a .429 hitting percentage. Macy Reynolds contributed defensively with 20 digs, and Sophia Baugh orchestrated the offense with 61 assists. Federico was effective from the service line with four aces.
The Lady Buffs are the second seed in Pool 1 as they take on the host and #3 ranked Roadrunners of MSU Denver on Saturday morning with first serve set for 10:00 a.m. CT at the Auraria Event Center in Denver during the Silver Bracket semifinals. MSUD went 1-1 on Friday as they dropped a five-set thriller to Wayne State before a sweep of Lewis.
