PORTALES, NM – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team was defeated by a final score of 3-0 (20-25, 25-27, 20-25) by no. 20 Tarleton State on Saturday afternoon.

The Hounds had their best chance to take a set from the nationally ranked and first place in the conference TexAnns in the second set, but couldn't capitalize in the final points of the set, eventually falling by a final of 27-25. Sophomore Jasmine Gannon posted 13 kills to lead the way for the Hounds while senior Jennifer Martinez was second on the squad with six kills and also totaled four blocks in the match.

Tarleton State closed out the first set on a 7-1 run to open up the 1-0 advantage on the Hounds. Eastern New Mexico continued to battle and nearly pulled off a win in the second set after a strong comeback, but couldn't score the points when needed against a tough defensive unit from Tarleton that totaled nine blocks throughout the match.

Eastern New Mexico quickly fell behind in the third match 9-4, but rattled off six straight points to finally jump ahead of the TexAnns, 10-9. Both teams traded points back and forth all the way down to the wire before a 6-2 run to close out the set and match gave Tarleton their second straight victory of the weekend.

Senior Alba Ontiveros led the way for Eastern with nine digs while Gannon and senior Kaitlyn Kluna each totaled eight digs.

The Hounds will continue their conference schedule on Tuesday evening with a match scheduled against rival West Texas A&M at 6 p.m.