STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Tarleton State blistered its way to 47 kills and a .354 team hitting percentage to blitz Midwestern State 25-12, 25-20, 25-21 in Lone Star Conference play Saturday afternoon at Wisdom Gym.
 
The loss was third consecutive setback for the Mustangs, who dropped to 15-12 on the season and to 7-10 in league play.  MSU closes the regular  season with three road matches next week beginning at Cameron Tuesday night in Lawton. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
Tarleton State's duo of Flynn Harrell (14 kills, .414 hitting percentage) and Nikki McNorton (11 kills, .333 hitting percentage) combined for 25 kills for the Texans who closed strong in each set.
 
The TexAnns (16-13, 10-7) blistered their way to 16 kills and committed two errors in the opening set (.583) to jump out to the early lead then notched 17 kills and hit .270 in the second frame and had 14 kills and four errors (.286) in the final set.
 
Junior outside hitter Shelbi Stewart posted a strong game to lead MSU with 11 kills while hitting .304 while senior Hillary White added five kills and four digs.
 
Senior libero Kiara Jordan paced back row efforts with 16 digs, while freshman Kasey Decker paced Midwestern at the net with two total blocks.
 
The Mustangs remain locked in seventh place in the LSC standings, but are just one game ahead of Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Kingsville as the three fight for the final two conference postseason berths.
 
The Lone Star Conference Championship postseason tournament runs from Nov. 10-12 at the site of the regular season champion.