PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico Volleyball was on the wrong end of a five-set thriller with UTPB, falling 3-2 at Greyhound Arena on Friday evening. The Greyhounds now stand at 8-14 on the season, sporting a 0-9 LSC record. The Falcons shift to 13-5 on the season with a 4-3 conference record.
 
The Falcons held onto the match taking the first, third, and fifth set: 30-28, 25-16, 15-13. Meanwhile, the Greyhounds forced a five-set match taking the second frame (25-23) and the fourth stanza (26-24). During the opening frame, UTPB were on set point at 24-19 but Eastern found five straight points to force extra rallies. In the second frame, Eastern utilized a 7-0 stretch to take the lead and ENMU never relinquished that advantage, tying the match at 1-1.
 
After the Falcons took the third set comfortably, ENMU led 7-1 to start the fourth set but the Falcons worked back to tie the match, 24-24. However, two straight points from ENMU forced a decisive fifth set. In the final frame, UTPB led 8-3 but ENMU held off the Falcons on three consecutive match points before falling 15-13.

NOTABLE STATS

• Leading all competitors, Mikaela Garvin (20 kills) and Kali Nelson (18 kills) were the force behind the Greyhounds attack.
• Gracelyn Stubbs and Kayla Ison both had standout performances with 29 assists and 28 assists, respectively.
• On defense, Getsemani Carrasco led the Greyhounds with 25 digs with Stubbs contributing 20 digs.
• At the net, Deziree Flowers totaled six total blocks while Stubbs accounted for four.
• ENMU bested the Falcons in kills (68-64) and digs (90-59), but the Falcons made more blocks (11-10) and made less errors (26-37).

FROM THE SOURCE

"I'm very proud of our fight this evening in a tough five-set match," said Head Volleyball Coach Sia Poyer. "We were so close this evening with four sets being decided by just two points, the match could have tilted in any direction," said Poyer.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Stubbs marked the match with their 12^th double-double of the season, setting new career marks in assists (29) and digs (20).
• Another double-double came from Ison (their fifth of the season), while tying a career high for assists (28).
• Nelson supplied a career best 18 kills during the contest, while Garvin posted their second 20+ kill match of the season.
• Carrasco breached 25+ digs for the third time this season, with Rylee Mapes finding a season best 14 digs.
• Kinzie Davis matched a personal best seven kills, while Flowers netted a new career high seven kills.
• The Greyhounds conclude the weekend as (RV) Angelo State face Eastern on Saturday, Oct. 14, afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.