The Saints volleyball team fell in three sets to the University of Texas at Brownsville Scorpions 17-25, 14-25, and 22-25 Saturday at Mabee Gymnasium. The result was the second loss this season to the Scorpions, who have now won 23 straight matches.

The loss also dropped the Saints into fourth place within the Red River Athletic Conference, just half a game behind third-place Southwestern Assemblies of God University and two-and-a-half games behind second-place Wiley College.

Saturday's first set began with the Saints first four point coming from UTB errors. OLLU finally punched through when sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Herrera spiked the ball off a UTB block to give the Saints an early 5-4 lead. After the Scorpions retook the lead 8-5, freshman outside hitter Norma Fraga rallied the Saints with two kills to pull within one point, 8-7. After the Scorpions served the ball into the net to make the score 9-8, the Scorpions went on an 8-0 run to stretch their lead to 17-8. Fraga once again tried to rally the Saints, but UTB was content to trade points, pushing their lead to 21-13. Herrera found the back line for a kill and senior middle blocker Melanie Valenciana added two more kills to push the score to 21-16; however, the late surge wasn't enough as the Scorpions closed the set 25-17.

The Saints looked to jump out early in the second set behind an ace by sophomore setter Elyse Escobar and a kill by Valenciana to give the Saints a 5-4 lead. After the Scorpions went on a 6-1 run to take the lead 10-6, the Saints found room to score two more points behind an ace by senior defensive specialist Danielle Otero, a kill by Herrera, and another ace by Escobar to close to within 11-10. With the score 15-10, Fraga and junior outside hitter Lauren Eveler both registered kills to close the score to 15-12. From there, the Scorpions pushed through again with a 6-0 run to take a 21-12 lead. From there, the Scorpions once again capitalized to take the second set 25-14.

In the third set, Valenciana's early kill gave the Saints a 4-3 lead. As with much of the action throughout the day, each Saints' point was quickly answered by the Scorpions. Freshman setter Desirea Aguilar jumped in on the action when she dumped the ball to the Scorpions' side of the net to tie the game 5-5. With the score 12-9 in favor of the Scorpions, sophomore outside hitter Liza Rodriguez powered her way through the Scorpion defense for a kill that was followed by another tip by Aguilar to bring the Saints back to within one point 12-11. Later, an ace by junior libero Sarah Lindsay gave the Saints the lead 16-14. After the Scorpions once again rallied to kill a Saints surge, Fraga found her way through the UTB defense to keep the Saints in front 19-17. After Valenciana pushed the Saints lead to 20-19, the Scorpions once again pushed through to retake the lead, and eventually close out the match 25-22.

Escobar finished the match with six assists and two aces. Valenciana finished with five kills and two blocks. Aguilar finished with nine assists, eight digs, and four kills.

The Saints next match, and last home appearance of the season, is scheduled for Saturday at Mabee Gymnasium against Bacone College.