WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State struggled mightily on the defensive end of the floor to loss momentum before losing 25-18, 18-25, 16-25, 23-25 to Abilene Christian in its season finale Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

The Mustangs close the season with a 7-23 mark and will miss the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament for the first time since 2007.

MSU came out firing from the onset as senior Shelbi Stewart put down four kills in the opening frame, but had plenty of support as Caitlin Wallace, Kasey Decker and Beatriz Villalba each had three kills each to help the Mustangs out to a 1-0 advantage.

The Mustangs were also hot on the defensive end early on forcing the Wildcats into seven errors and a .098 attack percentage in the opening set.

But Abilene Christian caught fire committing a combined four errors over the next two frames establishing momentum.

The Mustangs rolled out a 6-2 lead in the fourth set, but ACU rode a strong service run by Sara Oxford to score eight straight points to claim a 9-7 edge. MSU would regain a 2-point edge on a Brandi Flores kill to lead 13-11 but couldn't sustain the push.

Stewart paced the Mustangs with 11 kills and four blocks while Wallace added 10 kills while hitting .318.

Junior outside hitter Beatriz Villalba had seven kills and junior middle blocker Michelle Blount had seven kills and five blocks.

Sara Oxford (16) and Kalynne Allen (15) combined for 31 kills to lead the Wildcats who improved to 12-18 overall and 8-12 in conference play.