The Dustdevils came up short in three hard fought matches at the Mountain Lion Classic hosted by the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs this weekend.

TAMIU dropped a five-set thriller (24-26, 13-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-17) to the tourney host Mountain Lions after opening the match down two sets to none.  

The Dustdevils were led by senior outside hitter Mackenzie Catalina who posted a double-double with 19 kills and 19 digs.  TAMIU also had a strong showing from sophomore outside hitter, Ariana Guerra who also contributed 16 kills to go along with three blocks.

In the Friday evening match TAMIU faced the no. 4-ranked team Washburn University.  Despite a very competitive match the Dustdevils fell short dropping the match in three sets 20-25, 18-25, 19-25.

Catalina and Guerra paced the TAMIU offense once again with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.  Maison Kosse finished with 31 assists and Daniela Sandoval led the defense with 12 digs.

In the final match of the tournament the Dustdevils dropped a three set decision versus Colorado School of the Mines 20-25, 14-25, 21-25.  The Orediggers were very strong offensively, hitting .330 for the match.  The outside duo of Catalina and Guerra finished the day with carbon copy numbers from Friday night with13 and 12 kills each.  Sandoval paced the TAMIU defense with 12 digs.  

The Dustdevils will be back in action on Sept. 17 as they open up Lonestar Conference play versus Midwestern State at 6pm in the KCB building on the campus of Texas A&M International University.  

Head Coach Brittany Harry had this to say upon the completion of their non-conference schedule "We have played an unbelievably tough pre-conference schedule.  Three teams we have faced have been top-15 teams and we are competing with them.  I look forward to bringing that level of competition when we open up conference play next weekend."