GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Morgan Nix broke her own program record with 42 digs in a five-set match, but the LeTourneau volleyball team could not overcome Texas Lutheran in a 3-2 loss (25-18, 16-25, 25-12, 15-25, 15-8) on Friday afternoon in the opener of the Southwestern Fall Invitational.

Nix broke her record of 40 that she set in a win at East Texas Baptist in 2022. The nation's leader in digs per set entering the weekend, Nix has two matches of 38 or more digs already this season. She also added three assists and three aces in the loss.

LeTourneau (0-3) got 17 kills and five digs from Yari Ortiz while Kaci Monk had 12 kills and Allison Smith added 11 kills. Smith also tallied five blocks and seven digs. Hannah Payan chipped in with seven kills and totaled 12 digs with Reina Lawson adding 28 assists and eight digs.

The YellowJackets dropped the opening set, 25-18, before knotting the match at 1-1 with a second set win. LeTourneau went on a 7-0 run early in the second, aided by four straight points off kills from either Ortiz or Smith, to gain an 11-5 lead. The margin stretched to 15-6 and LeTourneau led the rest of the way. 

Texas Lutheran (3-1) scored the first nine points of the third set and coasted to the game win, but the YellowJackets were not done. LeTourneau hit .250 with 15 kills in the fourth set and used a 12-3 run to break open a close score and send the match into a deciding set after a 25-15 victory.

After a slow start in the fifth, LeTourneau trimmed its deficit to 5-3 on a Smith kill but could not get any closer the rest of the way.

It was the first five-set match of the season for the YellowJackets.

LeTourneau had 53 kills in the match and held a 107-91 edge in digs.

Keriann Kallus and Ryann Ely had 10 kills apiece for Texas Lutheran, which also received 24 digs from Faith Coldewey and 20 assists with 21 digs from Shavonne Respondek.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau wraps up the weekend invitational on Saturday against Aurora (10:30 a.m.) and Puget Sound (3 p.m.).

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