STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Midwestern State threw a block party to reject Missouri Western 25-11, 25-13, 25-15 Friday afternoon in its opener in the Tarleton State Invitational at Tarleton's RecSports gym.

"You have to have your middles active to win matches and they were," MSU coach Venera Flores-Stafford said.

Junior middle blockers Alysha Pritt and Sesley Graves combined for 11 total blocks, while opposite hitter Whitney Maxwell pitched in with six more as the Mustangs limited the Griffons to a -.116 hitting percentage with 13 total team blocks.

"I'm glad to see we're playing this well," Flores-Stafford said. "We came back from a mediocre match at home (3-1 win over Dallas Baptist) to a huge showing here on the road."

Graves also paced the Mustangs' attack with 10 kills to go along with blocks, while Pritt added eight kills to an exceptional defensive performance as she finished with six blocks and 13 digs.

Allison Schreiber finished with a season-low 23 assists, but directed the Mustangs to an efficient .305 attack percentage.

Maxwell, Hillary White and Miranda Byrd each had four kills and did not commit an attack error.

The Mustangs face Texas A&M International at 4 p.m. before closing the invitational against Texas-Permian Basin and Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.

Texas A&M International claimed a 3-2 win over Central Oklahoma earlier this afternoon.