THE RUNDOWN
The Lady Patriots lost their match against St. Mary's with a score of 3-1. DBU continues to struggle right now as St. Mary's led the game in total kills, blocks, assists, and digs. Despite trailing in most categories, the Lady Patriots did find more players earn points with three players reaching at least nine kills. The Lady Patriots mainly couldn't find a way to stop St. Mary's attack as St. Mary's had four players with more kills than the DBU player with the most kills on the team.

Both teams came out with a lot of excitement in the first set which led to some sloppy play with both teams combining for 15 errors. St. Mary's was the first team to calm down and they gained control by getting out to a 20-9 lead. The Lady Patriots fought back well and cut the lead to 24-20, but after a timeout from St. Mary's they would get the kill to win the first set 25-20. The 2nd set saw both teams go back and forth until DBU would take a small 17-14 lead, but they would go on a run to jump to a 22-15 lead. A few errors by St. Mary's and a kill by Katie Nicholson allowed them to win the set from there with a score of 25-18.

The third set also remained close for a majority of the time. With DBU leading 15-14, St. Mary's would score eight of the next 10 points to take a 22-17 lead. The Lady Patriots couldn't find a way to comeback from there and St. Mary's would win the set 25-18. The Lady Patriots seemed a little defeated in the fourth set and couldn't get much offense going before they were down 24-13. All of the sudden, the Lady Patriots went on an incredible 9-point run to bring the lead down to 24-22, but they couldn't finish the comeback and St. Mary's would get one more kill to win the match 3-1.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Despite losing the last set, the Lady Patriots ended the match with a lot of momentum with that 9-point run with their backs against the wall. They'll look to use that momentum for their other two matches this weekend.
• Strealy Sizelove did a great job with spreading the ball to her teammates. She finished with 37 assists and helped five of her teammates get at least five kills.
• Sidnee Jo Fitzpatrick had a good game back from her injury as she finished with nine kills and a team-high six blocks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2- Alexa Lezak led the team in two statistical categories tonight with 10 kills and 18 digs. 
3- The Lady Patriots did find more success on defense with three players getting at least 10 digs.
5- Tonight's loss marks the 5th straight loss for the Lady Patriots.

COACH BIRD ON HOW THE TEAM FEELS MOVING FORWARD
"We started iff a little slow, giving the other team some momentum right off the bat. We made too many errors and allowed St. Mary's to go on too many multiple point runs. However, us coaches are pleased with how the girls fought back and are excited to take that momentum into tomorrow's game."

UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots have a few road games this weekend. They'll travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville for a match tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and they'll go to Texas A&M-International on Saturday for a match at 12:00 p.m.