DENTON, Texas – The No. 5 Angelo State volleyball team fell in five sets to Texas Woman's (18-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-15, 12-15) on Saturday afternoon.

The Belles slide to an 8-3 overall record and 0-2 in the Lone Star Conference with Saturday afternoon's loss. The Angelo State defense limited the Pioneers to a .182 clip for the match. With the win, TWU climbs to 1-1 in the LSC and 3-7 over this season.   

Brianna Sotello led the team's attack with a .425 hitting percentage and a season high total 22 kills on the day. Redshirt Freshman Bailey Drum followed with a team second nine kills.

Heading the ASU defense, Micheala Sifuentes and Abbie Lynn turned in team leading performances. Sifuentes marked a team most 15 digs to lead the Belles defensive efforts. Lynn inked a season high five total blocks, while also assisting the offense with a team third eight kills.

Setter Meghan Parker marked her second double-double of the season as she tied a season high in assists with 43 and dug 13 balls, a team second, to help the defense. 

Also making contributions for the Belles were Tulani Titley and Haley Coulter. Both players tallied five kills each, while Coulter also marked a .333 clip for the match. This marked a season high for Coulter along with her season-most eight digs against the Pioneer offense.

The Belles started the first set by taking an early 12-8 lead, but TWU would climb back into the match with an 8-0 run that would place the score at 17-13 in their favor.  After a kill from Drum the Pioneers would embark on another lengthy 6-1 run to place the score at 24-16. A Sotello kill would try to get the Belles back into the set but a final kill from TWU shut the door and gave the Pioneers the 1-0 set lead.

Just as in the first set, ASU would get out to another strong start with a pair of kills from Coulter that gave the Belles a 4-2 lead. TWU would answer and take the lead at 8-7. A timely block by Anna Graham and Coulter followed by a Bailey Mulder ace place the Belles back in front 9-8. Texas Woman's would briefly take the lead again before Sotello fired in a kill and a Parker, Titley block placed the score at 12-11 with ASU back out in front.  As it had before, TWU responded with a run to create a 16-12 lead. The Belles would be unable to recover and would fall behind 2-0 in the match.

Facing the possibility of a Pioneer sweep, ASU came out firing in the third set. The Belles would jump ahead 12-6. A Sotello kill and several Pioneer errors pushed the score to 15-9. TWU attempted to get back into the driver's seat cutting the ASU lead to one with the score sitting at 15-14, but kills from Sotello, Drum and Morgan Seaton along with a Lynn, Seaton block placed the lead back into the Belles favor.  Sotello would drop in the final two kills to force a fourth set with a match score of 2-1.

Despite a TWU kill to start the set, Angelo State's Seaton, Lynn and Sotello would give the team a 5-3 lead. A Titley kill then jump-started an 8-3 that would place the Belles ahead, 14-9. Continuing to maintain the lead with big swing from Drum, Titley and Sotello along with a Sifuentes ace, ASU found itself in front of the Pioneers, 24-14. Sotello then sent the match to the fifth set with the final kill. In the final set, the teams traded blows, however tied at eight; TWU would pull away and take the win.

Angelo State returns home on Wednesday, September 20 to take on No. 14 Tarleton State at 7:30 p.m. in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center. TSU is currently 7-4 and 1-1 in conference play.