ABILENE, Texas The Howard Payne volleyball team fell in its conference opener in 3 sets (16-25, 16-25, 17-25) at Hardin-Simmons on Friday night.

The Lady Jackets struggled to get anything going offensively during the match. Micah Cisneroz and Shelby Harry each led the team with five kills. Taylor Reid matched her season high with 17 digs. Callie Molloy and Analisa Anzaldua each picked up nine.

Hardin-Simmons picked up 39 kills compared to Howard Payne's 20 and were led offensively by Corrie Hall who had 12 kills. Morgan Prince picked up 17 assists on the match.

Howard Payne is now 0-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Hardin-Simmons sits at 5-6 on the year and 1-1 in conference. The Lady Jackets return to action on September 25th at 2:30 pm against the University of Texas at Dallas in the American Southwest Conference Crossover Challenge.