Despite dropping the first two sets and making the long haul to five sets, the West Texas A&M volleyball team lost their match in Canyon on Friday against rival and second-ranked team in the Lonestar Conference, Tarleton State.  

After the second set and a quick trip to the locker room, the Lady Buffs returned a whole new team. They went on to take the next two from the TexAnns, barely falling short in a nail-biter fifth set (12-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23, 12-15).

 “I think we just realized that it’s now or never,” said senior Libby Strickland, who lead the team with 14 kills and is an 11-time All American for WT’s track team. “This is the moment. We’re going to do it or we’re not and we all decided to step up. You could tell with the energy and even with the little mistakes that we eliminated. That’s what really brought us back into it.”

WTAMU head coach Jason Skoch said that the efforts from the bench were critical for the team’s success tonight.

 “I guess what struck me is that we had some girls play very bad, and that’s going to happen,” Jason Skoch said. “We had three subs that came in and stayed and all three did really good. You get mad that your starters didn’t get it done but you’re proud that your subs did their job.”

 Overall, both Skoch and Strickland agreed that tight games like these are important for future team success and confidence.

 “All these type matches mean they have to make a decision,” Skoch said. “We’re either going to just give up or we’re going to learn from it and go. We’re hounding them to learn from this and make sure they’re a better player and we’re a better team for this failure.”

 The Lady Buffs will take on rival Angelo State at 2:00 Saturday in Canyon.