The Howard Payne women’s volleyball team took games two and three to force a fifth game but fell to undefeated McMurry University 2-3 (25-22,17-25,17,25,25-21,15-6) in the Lady Jackets home conference opener Tuesday evening.

Unforced errors allowed McMurry to take game one 25-22, but the Lady Jackets rallied to win games two and three 25-17 and 25-17.

The fourth game was another close one with McMurry winning 25-21. HPU would be unable to match the offensive output of McMurry 15-6 and the match 2-3.

Sarah Bishop led HPU with 15 kills followed by Taylor Jordan with 11. Tamika Heline had nine kills and a team high 26 digs, Kristin Hammond followed with 23 digs.

Howard Payne now stands at 4-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while McMurry improves to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

 

The Lady Jackets will play next on Thursday in Kerrvile, Texas versus conference opponent Schreiner University.