THE RUNDOWN
DBU lost a road match against conference opponent UA Fort Smith with a score of 3-0. DBU went into this match winning their last two matches without dropping a set and have improved their offensive attack, but nothing seemed to work against UA Fort Smith who currently have the best record in the Heartland Conference. UA Fort Smith had a lot of success against the Lady Patriots and ended the match with more kills, blocks, aces, assists, and digs. 

UA Fort Smith jumped out to an early lead in the first set and got their lead up to 13-5. The Lady Patriots started to chip away at the lead with some kills from Madeline Dolberry and Brooke Clark, but UA Fort Smith then scored eight of the next nine points to increase their lead to 22-9 before going on to win the first set 25-14. UA Fort Smith looked even better in the 2nd set and scored the first seven points of the set and got out to a commanding 19-5 lead. DBU tried to fight back and scored five in a row, but UA Fort Smith shut out a comeback attempt and win the set 25-13.

The Lady Patriots looked much better in the 3rd set as it remained close for most of the set. Trailing 15-11, DBU scored three in a row to bring the lead down to just one point. UA Fort Smith would score eight of the next ten points though to extend the lead to 23-16 before winning the set 25-18 and winning the match 3-0.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• UA Fort Smith is considered one of the best teams in the Heartland Conference. DBU struggled against them in Dallas earlier this year and facing them on the road today only made things more difficult.
• The Lady Patriots were trailing for a majority of this match. They had a few promising comeback attempts in the last two sets, but UA Fort Smith's lead was too much to overcome.
• The Lady Patriots tend to stay in matches even down 0-2. They always continue to fight with their backs against the wall, but if they played the entire match like they did in the 3rd set, the final score could have been closer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8- UA Fort Smith ended with eight total aces in the match while DBU ended with zero.
3- This is the 3rd time the Lady Patriots didn't record an ace in a match. They've lost all three of those matches.
57- Madeline Dolberry and Brooke Clark ended with 16 kills combined which made up 57% of the team's total kills.

UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots are back in Dallas for their next match when they face Lubbock Christian University on November 2nd at 7:00 p.m. in the Burg.