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LAREDO, Texas – The final home game at Texas A&M International ran level nearly throughout its three sets, but it was the visiting Newman Jets that stood victorious. TAMIU fell, 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-20), at the Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Saturday.
The Dustdevils (3-23, 2-14) finished their home slate of games 1-10 with the loss. TAMIU played an elastic opening set against the Jets, seeing an inflated 15 game-tying plays and nine different lead changes fall as the competition forced additional points. TAMIU survived three match-point situations and even held one of their own before the Jets piled three consecutive points together for the momentum-stealing victory.
The second set saw the intensity reduced, as Newman controlled most of the game with TAMIU forcing game-tying plays just three times. The only two lead changes came before the five-point mark, which is where the Jets took off. They never looked back after seizing a 4-3 lead early in the second set.
The Dustdevils swirled back in the beginning of the third set, clinging to a 14-12 and later a 18-17 lead before Newman soared back to eventually win the clinching set. That final game saw nine game-tying progressions and four lead changes, bringing the match total to 27 and 15, respectively.
Several Dustdevils performed well offensively, producing at least five points apiece. Junior Alex Ciszek led all hitters with 10 points – all off kills. Both Paige Criss (6 kills, 6 blocks) and Toriana Goods (8 kills, 3 blocks) railed off 9.5 points; Sophomore setter Lizzie Prieto showed off her skillsets with seven points off six kills, two blocks and a team-high 30 assists.
Team captain Miranda Pratt scored five points off kills and fellow senior Tierney Bannon-Coad hit two kills for two points. Koral Wright and Sophia Quinones each contributed two points, while seniors Rosebud Guthrie and Desiree Ortiz produced a point apiece.
Ortiz, Prieto and Quinones each dug double-digit balls on defense. Ortiz led with 24, while Quinones had 11 and Prieto helped with 10.
The Dustdevils will take to the road for their final two road games of 2013, heading to Arkansas-Fort Smith (Nov. 14, 7 p.m.) and Dallas Baptist (Nov. 16, noon).
