FORT WORTH-The Prairie View A&M volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to Lehigh Friday afternoon, but the Lady Panthers pushed their opponents in a highly-competitive match in the Molten Invitational.
Prairie View lost 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 as it received a 28-assist performance by junior setter Kelsey Espinosa, who is fresh off of receiving her second-consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Week Award.
Led by Taylor Poole, who recorded a team-high eight kills in just the first two sets, Lehigh managed to jump out to a two-set lead on the Lady Panthers. Prairie View A&M trailed early and by as much as seven points in Set 1. In Set 2, the Lady Panthers managed to keep their deficit to within four points until Lehigh pulled away. Following a kill by freshman right side Rachel Owens with an assist from Espinosa, to cut Lehigh's lead to 15-12, the War Eagles capitalized off of a couple Prairie View A&M errors to hold for the Set 2 win.
In Set 3, the Lady Panthers kept Lehigh on its heels, forcing nine ties throughout the set. Senior outside Breanna McNeil recorded four-of-her-nine kills during that set. The Lady Panthers went on a 6-3 run that was capped off by an attack error by Lehigh's Amanda Clark that tied the score at 18, but Lehigh went on to score two-consecutive points to take a 20-18 lead. Prairie View A&M pulled to within 23-22 after a Charae Caldwell kill off of an Espinosa assist. But the War Eagles closed out the match, eventually winning the set 25-23.
The Lady Panthers face two top-notch opponents to close out the Molten Invitational in TCU (9-1) and No. 3 ranked USC Saturday at the TCU Recreational Center in Fort Worth.
