BROWNWOOD, Texas — The Sul Ross State volleyball team came up short in five sets, 27-25, 17-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11, against Howard Payne University on Tuesday night at the Brownwood Coliseum.

>> HOW IT HAPPENED:

The opening set featured nine different lead changes.

Sul Ross State led 5-2 early on after a kill from Cassandra Espinoza and a service ace by Loren Garcia.

The Yellow Jackets went on a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead.

In the middle of the set, the Lobos used a 4-0 run to regain the lead at 12-11. Edie Coleman tallied two kills and Sarah Chavez had one kill while Tatyana Colon served up an ace during the run.

The lead changed four times until the Yellow Jackets pulled off a 4-0 run to lead 18-15.

Howard Payne was a point away from capturing the win, but the Lobos reeled off a 5-0 run to take a one-point lead.

Daniella Garcia had two kills during the run.

The Yellow Jackets tied up the set at 25-all. Sul Ross State got a kill from Espinoza and took advantage of an attack error to win by two points.

Howard Payne led 15-7 in the middle of the second set. The Yellow Jackets never trailed as they were able to even up the match.

The Yellow Jackets continued their momentum into the third set by beginning on a 5-0 run.

Howard Payne led by as much as nine before the Lobos went on a 5-0 run to trail by four points. Espinoza had two kills to start the run.

Sul Ross State chiseled the deficit down to three late in the set, but the Yellow Jackets pulled away to take a 2-1 lead.

The Lobos came out with a 10-4 lead in the fourth set as Espinoza and Daniella Garcia had back-to-back kills.

Using an 8-0 run, Howard Payne took control of the set by taking a 12-10 lead.

Taking advantage of a few miscues by the Yellow Jackets, the Lobos rallied and went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead by six points.

Loren Garcia had three kills during the momentum-changing run.

Howard Payne later cut the deficit to two points with a 4-0 run, but the Lobos prevailed when Chavez and Espinoza nailed down the final two kills to force a fifth set.

Sul Ross State trailed 13-5 in the fifth set. The Lobos used a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to three. Espinoza highlighted the run with three big kills.

Unfortunately, the Lobos' comeback attempt fell short.

>> RECORDS: Sul Ross State (7-14); Howard Payne (11-10)

>> GAME NOTES:

• Espinoza led the Lobos with a double-double performance tallying 20 kills and 26 digs.
• Espinoza had her fifth double-double of the season. She has recorded 45 kills in her last three matches.
• Daniella Garcia finished with 11 kills and three block assists. She now has a team-high 209 kills on the year.
• Daniella Garcia now has 521 career kills.
• Loren Garcia added with 10 kills and six digs.
• Eliana Mata tallied a double-double with a season-high 28 assists and 19 digs.
• Brylee Sweeten had 15 assists and seven digs.
• Colon finished with five assists and a season-high four service aces along with a season-high 30 digs.
• Colon has now tallied 804 career digs.
• Chavez added with five kills, two assists, three block assists and three digs.
• As a team, the Lobos recorded a game-high 56 kills.

>> UP NEXT: Sul Ross State travels to Marshall, Texas to take on East Texas Baptist at 11 a.m. CST on Saturday, Oct. 28.