THE LEAD
In a match up for the top spot in the Heartland Conference, the Dallas Baptist Volleyball Team fell to the University of Arnaksas-Fort Smith Lady Lions in four sets, 3-1. Carly Hess had 11 kills for DBU, while Kaycie Bird had 15 assists and Lauren Nicks had 20 digs. 

Early in the first set, UAFS opened up an early lead against DBU and went on to extend their advantage to 13-5. The Lady Lions would go up by as many as 11 points during the match, building a 21-10 lead.  Multiple point streaks by UAFS and long offensive droughts would doom DBU, as they fell 25-15 in the first set.

In the second set, Dallas Baptist would fall behind early to UA Fort Smith. With the score tied 1-1, the Lady Lions scored nine straight points to take a 10-1 lead over the Lady Patriots. DBU was able to close the gap on UAFS though, as the Lady Patriots pulled to within six points at 13-7.  DBU was unable to gain any more traction on the Lady Lions, which led to UAFS widening the lead and claiming set two, 25-16 and going up 2-0 for the match.

DBU entered the third set of the evening jumping out to a 4-1 lead to gain an early advantage against UA Fort Smith. UAFS would answer back scoring four of the set's next five points to tie the game 5-5. The two squads battled back and forth late into the set. With Dallas Baptist down 18-16 to UA Fort Smith, DBU scored the next three points to take a 19-18 lead in the match. With the Lady Lions on their heels, the Lady Patriots held a late 22-20 lead, which later turned into a tie at 24-24. Out of a DBU timeout with the score tied, Dallas Baptist clinched the set behind a Carly Hess kill and service ace, giving the Lady Patriots a 26-24 win in the set.

In the fourth set, the Lady Lions engineered an early 4-1 advantage against the Lady Patriots. As the set continued, DBU pulled to within two points of UAFS at 9-7. The score would not be close for long as UA Fort Smith would begin to pull away from Dallas Baptist in a rally that included a seven point scoring streak, giving UAFS a 21-11 lead in the set. The Lady Lions would eventually close out the set 25-15 and win the match, 3-1.

COACH'S QUOTE
"UAFS put the pressure on us and we didn't produce. We saw some good things from people we just need to work on adjusting quickly" - Coach Cathy Kokel

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.064 Hitting percentage registered by DBU.
171  Number of attack attempts registered by both teams.
21    Both teams registered 21 attack errors.
5      Number of DBU players who registered double digit digs (Nicks -20, Brooke Manley - 14, Bird - 12, Hannah Ballew - 10, Hannah Hester - 10). 

WHAT'S NEXT
Wichita, Kansas, is the next stop for the Lady Patriots as they face Newman University on Saturday, September 26. The match is set to begin at 12 pm.