CANYON, Texas – St. Edward's Volleyball opened its westward road trip with a three-set loss to the no. 8-ranked West Texas A&M Lady Buffs, falling 25-18, 25-22, 25-14. 
 
KELLI FORDING was the lone Hilltopper with double-digit kills with 10, though MIA CLAY and KAYLEN LEMBCKE contributed eight each on higher efficiency. Emma Becker and Camy Jones led West Texas A&M with 11 kills each on .417 and .611 hitting. 
 
St. Edward's stayed with West Texas A&M through the midway point of the first set, staying within one at 16-15 behind a combined eight kills from Fording and ADDY BADLEY. The latter provided her four kills on only seven attacks with no errors. However, West Texas A&M reeled off a 9-3 run to close the set. Jones had five kills on seven attacks. 
 
Clay emerged in the second set to tie Fording for the team lead with five kills. She committed only one error on eight attacks. Becker and Jones responded with mistake-free volleyball, combining for 10 kills with no errors and better than .500 hitting. 
 
West Texas showed a more balanced attack in the third set, with six different Lady Buffs recording at least two kills. After contributing three kills on five attacks in the second set, Lembcke had five on seven with no errors in the third. 
 
ALTHEA MORRIS had a match-high 31 assists, and BEA ANGELES led St. Edward's with 11 digs. St. Edward's drops to 9-11 this season and will play at Eastern New Mexico tomorrow.