CANYON, Tex.—The women's volleyball team got back in action as they began their 2023 season competing at the Britkare Lady Buff Classic on Friday. The Adams State University Grizzlies dropped both games, 3-0.
 
St. Mary's 3, Adams State 0
The Grizzlies dropped all three sets in their first game against St. Mary's by a score of 25-13, 25-15, and 25-22.
 
Anna Huggins and Cindy Garcia had the most kills as Huggins had nine kills followed by Garcia with eight kills.
 
Adams State came out strong in the first set as the Grizzlies made an effort to gain on St. Mary's lead with a small run but the hole was far too deep.
 
Natalie Gallegos helped the Grizzlies continue their momentum as she made a kill in the second set allowing the Grizzlies to finish the second set on the bottom end 25-15.
 
 In the third set, St. Mary's ran their lead to 14-9 early however, the Grizzlies didn't give up especially after being buoyed by a kill by Huggins, which was assisted by Remi Vargas. St. Mary's gradually continued to build, but even as the Grizzlies still closed the score; they still weren't able to hold them off and finished the third and final set 25-22.
 
#1 West Tex. A&M 3, Adams State 0
The Grizzlies then had to face the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion West Tex. A&M but the Lady Buffs won with set scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-18.
 
The Grizzlies began the first set of game two with a rocky start. West Tex. began to build a lead early on as the Grizzlies were down 0-5.
 
Cindy Garcia broke that lead as Garcia had two kills in a row which were assisted by Remi Vargas.  The Grizzlies maintained Huggins made a kill with an assist by Vargas as well which began to close the lead.
 
The Grizzlies stood their ground as Angela Youngs had two kills in a row but the Lady Buffs kept their lead ending the first set 25-19 with the Grizzlies trailing behind.
 
In set two Garcia got the momentum going with the first kill with the assistance of her teammate Vargas. Gallegos followed through with a kill and the Grizzlies seemed to begin to add some pressure to the Buffalos.
 
The score between ASU and the Buffalos kept switching off but ultimately the second set ended 25-19 with the Grizzlies down by six points.
 
Gallegos kept the score close in the third set as she made a kill keeping the score at a tie. The Buffalos were quick to react as it didn't take long to build up a lead again.
 
A service ace by Ailee Bugas kept the score 14-14 but the Lady Buffs were quick to respond with two kills. The third and final round ended in a close game 25-18.
 
The Grizzlies will be back on the court tomorrow where they will have a match against Davenport University scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Followed by a match at 4:30 p.m. against East Central University.