SHERMAN, Texas -- LeTourneau University's volleyball team split the final two matches at the Austin College Invitational Saturday, falling to the University of St. Thomas in a five-set thriller and beating the host 'Roos to wrap up the two-day, four-match weekend.

LeTourneau (3-1) fell to St. Thomas, 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 15-13, in the morning match at Hughey Gym. The YellowJackets defeated Austin College, 25-27, 30-28, 25-21, 25-19, in the evening to complete the Saturday split with the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference schools.

In the morning match, the YellowJackets responded from its two-set deficit to outlast the Celts in the third by battling through 13 ties and four lead changes. Trailing 16-15, LETU went on a 4-0 run behind kills from Taylor Smith and Kianna Crow and a pair of UST errors. St. Thomas pulled within one, 21-20, before Julie Smith put down a kill to spot the YellowJackets a two-point lead. The Celts crept back on top, 23-22, but Mikayla Thomas blasted a kill and Crow had two putaways to pull the Jackets within 2-1 in the match.

The YellowJackets hit .268 and had a 66 percent sideout percentage in the third set.

LeTourneau stifled St. Thomas in the fourth set, racing out to a lead and never looking back. The YellowJackets held the Celts to a .079 attack percentage and a 36 percent sideout rate. Thomas' kill put LETU ahead 10-2 early. A Celts ballhandling error extended the Jackets' lead to 18-7. St. Thomas pulled within 19-13, but a block by Julie Smith and a bad set by UST moved LeTourneau ahead, 22-13. Following another Celts setting error that pushed LETU to match point before St. Thomas used a five-point run to draw within 24-20. Taylor Smith put down one of Natalie Davenport's 54 assists on the next serve, however, to even the match at two sets apiece.

St. Thomas had 11 kills and eight errors in the fourth set. LeTourneau had 10 kills and six errors in a set that Crow put down four balls.

In the decisive fifth, St. Thomas opened up a 9-5 lead but a kill by Crow and a bad set by the Celts pulled the YellowJackets within two. UST re-extended its lead out to four, but LETU bounced back with a pair of Crow crushers and a Celts attack error to cut it to 11-10. St. Thomas bumped its lead out to three to draw within match point, but Crow hammered home another one of her five winners in the fifth, and the Celts committed a ballhandling error to make it 14-13. St. Thomas served up the next point to put an end to a marathon match marked by 33 ties and 12 lead changes.

Crow finished with 22 kills and 17 digs. Taylor Smith had 17 kills and 18 digs, while hitting .320. Thomas had 15 kills and two blocks. Davenport coupled her 54 assists with 14 of the YellowJackets' 83 digs. 

In the nightcap, the YellowJackets see-sawed back and forth in the opening set before succumbing to Austin College in a set that witnessed 17 ties and six lead changes. Taylor Smith and Lexie Welton each had four kills in the opening set. Smith tied the score at 23 with a putaway, and then put the Jackets in front, 25-24, but the Roos ran off the next three points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

LeTourneau converted 21 of 29 sideouts in the second set for a 72 percent ratio, while hitting .304 on 22 kills against five hitting errors in another overtime set. Austin College led by as many as four, but LeTourneau eventually pulled ahead, 26-25, on a lblast by Taylor Smith. After the Roos pulled even for the 12th time at 28-28, Crow tied the match with a pair of putaways to end the set.

Davenport's kill raced the YellowJackets out to an 8-1 lead in the third before the Roos went on a 5-0 run to draw within two. LETU crept back out to seven on Audrey Galindo's serve and kill on a setup from Thomas. Austin College cut it to three three more times before getting within 20-18. Two kills by Crow and another by Welton capped the set to move the YellowJackets up 2-1 in the match.

LeTourneau never trailed in the third.

After swapping leads three times, LETU seized a 20-15 advantage on Kiari Johnson's block to complete a four-point run. Johnson had a kill to push the Jackets ahead 22-18 before the Roos forced a sideout. But an attack error by Austin College and putaways by Taylor Smith and Johnson ended the weekend.

Taylor Smith finished with 14 kills and 20 digs. Crow had 12 and 12. Welton had 11 kills and a block, and Thomas 10 kills and two aces, while hitting .360. Davenport had 47 assists and two of the YellowJackets' eight aces.

LeTourneau will play in Colorado College's Spike It Up Classic Friday and Saturday in Colorado Springs.