STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Midwestern State closed out the TexAnn Invitational with wins over Texas-Permian Basin and St. Mary's (Texas) Saturday afternoon at the Tarleton Recreation Center.
The Mustangs claimed a four-set win over Texas-Permian Basin (25-18, 25-20, 29-31, 25-17) before climbing back from a two-set deficit to upend St. Mary's in five (16-25, 23-25, 25-10, 25-18, 15-6).
"We've definitely grown from last weekend," MSU coach
Venera Flores-Stafford said. "We are starting to play aggressively and taking it to teams."
Senior right-side hitter
Karolina Damjanovic paced a stellar attack against Texas-Permian Basin with 17 kills while committing just three errors for a .326 kill rate, while
Shelbi Stewart finished with 13 kills and HIllary White added 11 kills and hit .258.
Junior setter
Taryn Westerman notched a season-high 45 set assists while guiding the Mustangs to a .237 attack percentage to go along with four service aces and seven digs.
Stewart and White finished off double-doubles with 18 and 17 digs each, while junior libero
Kiara Jordan added 17 more as the Mustangs limited UTPB to a .161 team attack percentage.
"We played MSU volleyball today and dictated the speed of the game," Flores-Stafford said. "We have learned a lot and are playing better."
The Mustangs slipped behind in the final match of the day against St. Mary's before Westerman sparked a turnaround to up her season best to 55 set assists and directed a team attack percentage of .267.
Four different attackers mounted double-digit kill paced by a solid 15-kill, one-error effort by senior middle blocker
Lauren Bayer who finished with 15 digs and a .538 attack percentage to go along with five total blocks.
Junior middle blocker
Miranda Byrd added 13 kills and hit .219 while Damjanovic finished with 12 kills and hit .290.
White continued her solid all-around play with her second double-double of the day with 11 kills and 19 digs, while Jordan posted 22 digs to lead back row efforts.
Midwestern State plays its home opener Wednesday night against Oklahoma Panhandle State. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.