FORT SMITH, Ark. – Against the Heartland Conference regular season champions, a ninth-place Texas A&M International held its own.

Despite eventually falling 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 23-25,25-21), the Dustdevils took a set from an Arkansas-Fort Smith (20-8, 15-2 Heartland) team that had previously dropped only 17 of 62 Heartland sets this season.

UAFS improved to 9-1 all-time against TAMIU (3-24, 2-15), winning its fifth consecutive match in the series. TAMIU's only win in the series was a five-set win on Oct. 20, 2011, at the Kinesiology and Convocation Building in Laredo.

TAMIU posted a 0.139 hitting percentage (51 for 194) but produced 24 unforced errors. Senior middle hitter Rosebud Guthrie had 18 kills to lead the Dustdevils, while junior outside hitter Alex Ciszek had 12.

Sophomore setter Lizzie Prieto had 41 assists, while senior libero Desiree Ortiz had 29 digs.

The Dustdevils will close their season on Saturday at Dallas Baptist at noon.