LAREDO, Texas – A rare five-game match split the season matchup between South Texas rivals, Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville, at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Tuesday.

The Dustdevils fell to 0-2 in maximum-game matches, seeing a 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 15-9) defeat dealt to them. The Dustdevils downed the Javelinas in Kingsville on Sept. 14 in a three-set sweep.

The only other match that saw TAMIU(2-20, 1-12 Heartland Conference) take to a fifth set was against the University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Oct. 19, a game that UTPB won 3-2 (21-25 25-12, 25-27, 25-16, 15-10).

TAMIU used the non-conference match to tip off its final homestretch of the season, as it will go on to host St. Mary's (Nov. 2, noon), Texas A&M-Commerce (Nov. 7, 7 p.m.), Oklahoma Panhandle State (Nov. 8, 7 p.m.) and Newman (Nov. 9, noon) for four matches in eight days. Three of the four count as Heartland competitions.

On Thursday, the Dustdevils fought a rabid race for points – with 138 tallies falling in the match. The game saw an astronomical 26 game-tying plays and 10 lead changes. Unfortunately for the home side, none of those momentum-altering series came in the most critical game.

The Dustdevils were diffused in wire-to-wire fashion in the deciding set after forcing it with a clutch game-4 comeback.

On the night, TAMIU was led by Alex Ciszek (15 points, 14 kills, 1 ace), Toriana Goods (13.5 points, 13 kills, 1 block) and Paige Criss (10.5 points, 7 kills, 6 blocks). Senior captain Miranda Pratt contributed eight points, all coming by way of her vicious killshot.

Lizzie Prieto paced the team again in assists, coming away with all but seven of the Dustdevils' total of 48.

Libero Desiree Ortiz  dug a team-high 22 balls, while Prieto and Goods both shoveled 15 balls. Sophia Quinones helped with 13 and Koral Wright got to 10 attacks.

The Dustdevils return for their final games at the KCB on Nov. 2, taking on St. Mary's at noon.