It was a match for the ages.

Undefeated East Texas Baptist University came into Alpine feeling confident sitting atop the American Southwest Conference standings.

In front of 364 fans at an electric Gallego Center on Friday night, the Sul Ross State volleyball team fed off the energy to pull off the straight-set sweep, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22.

The Lobos were able to discover what they're capable of when they put all the little things together.

"We knew we had nothing to lose. We kept them out of system a lot," said Sul Ross head coach Troy Canaba. "Our defense played amazing. I think it's something we can definitely build on. That was a big win for us."

Sul Ross came out the first set with a 6-1 lead after a clutch kill by Faith Herrera and a service ace from Victoria Flores.

A service ace by Annika Canaba made the score 10-4.

Canaba and Taryn Griner had some clutch kills down the stretch as the Lobos showed their dominance with an eight-point lead.

Taking advantage of some attacking errors by the Tigers, Sul Ross continued to push forward as it held a 15-7 lead.

The Lobos closed out the set with a 6-1 run. Canaba put the finishing touches on the game with a kill off an assist by Kamrynn Caruth.

A kill by Loren Garcia gave the Lobos an 11-7 lead in the middle of the second set.

Sul Ross kept riding the high energy to keep a four-point lead after another kill by Griner.

Cassandra Espinoza ended the set with a kill to help the Lobos take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 victory.

The final set featured 12 early lead changes before Sul Ross went off on a 3-0 run to pull away with a 15-12 lead.

Sul Ross was in control until ETBU battled back to change the lead twice more.

Deadlocked at 19-19, an attack error by the Tigers and two kills by Herrera and Griner put Sul Ross back out in front.

Canaba gave the Lobos a pair of clutch kills to send the crowd into a frenzy with the third-set victory.

Leading the way for the Lobos was Canaba with 14 kills while Griner finished with 12. Caruth added with 20 assists and six digs.

Herrera had 12 digs while Espinoza tallied eight.

The key for the Lobos was just enjoying the moment in front of the home crowd.

"We were pressing a little bit the last couple games on the road. We were trying to do too much, instead of having fun," added Troy Canaba. "We had everybody here. We feed off that. We play hard for them and we want to make them proud."

>> WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

"It's a really great feeling having the crowd boost our energy. It's really exciting to see what we can continue to do. We just wanted it really bad and we wanted to prove ourselves and show that we can compete with higher level teams." — Loren Garcia

"Defense wins championships. We just trusted our blockers in the front and we communicated really well in the back. Our energy was spot on the entire game. The bench was loud for us. We played together and for each other." — Tatyana Colon

>> RECORDS: Sul Ross 4-4 (1-2); East Texas Baptist 10-1 (2-1)

>> UP NEXT: The Lobos travel to Brownwood for a 5 p.m. match against Howard Payne on Tuesday, Sept. 20.