Midwestern State at #9 West Texas A&M
Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 | 7 p.m.
WTAMU Fieldhouse | Canyon, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (10-7, 2-6); West Texas A&M (17-3, 7-0)
Video: GoBuffsGo.com  
Live Stats: Go BuffsGo.com 
 
SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M has rolled off an 11-match winning streak since dropping three of four at the Colorado Premiere last month in Denver. The streak includes a 7-0 Lone Star Conference mark. WT boasts a potent attack featuring senior outside hitter Halie Harton (2.83 kps), junior outside hitter Lauren Bevan (2.83 kps) and senior middle blocker Laura Iwuchukwu (2.32 kps). Junior setter Kameryn Hayes pilots the Lady Buffs to a .231 team attack percentage averaging 9.38 assists per set. Iwuchukwu (1.77 bps) and sophomore middle blocker Lexi Davis (1.08 bps) highlight WT's strong play at the net, while freshman defensive specialist Lauren Britten leads back row efforts with 3.93 digs per set.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and West Texas A&M meet for the 27th time on the court Friday night at The Box. The Lady Buffs own a 26-0 advantage in the series and have won each of the 11 contests between the programs in Canyon.
 

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Midwestern State at Eastern New Mexico
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013 | 3 p.m.
Greyhound Arena | Portales, N.M.
Records: Midwestern State (10-7, 2-6); Eastern New Mexico (4-13, 2-6)
Video: GoEasternAthletics.com  
Live Stats: GoEasternAthletics.com  
 
SCOUTING THE ZIAS
Eastern New Mexico has dropped its last six matches heading into weekend play with a pair of home matches beginning with Cameron on Friday. The Zias last victory came in a 3-0 sweep of the Mustangs last month in Wichita Falls, but ENMU managed to take a set off of LSC-leading West Texas A&M Tuesday in Portales. Freshman outside hitters Lauren Frye (3.23 kps) and Courtney Lawson (2.97 kps) lead the Eastern New Mexico attack. Junior setter Karra Day averages 8.77 assists per set while directing the Zias to a .105 team attack percentage. Senior middle blocker Bree Anna Lucero (0.95 bps) and junior middle blocker Agatha Gibbons (0.93 bps) highlight the Zias' play at the net while senior libero Hayley Couch heads back row efforts with 5.88 digs per set.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico meet for the 28th time on the court Saturday afternoon at Greyhound Arena. The Zias own a 15-12 advantage in the series including a 6-5 edge in matches played in Portales.
 

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ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State recovered from a six-game skid to claim wins in each of its last three matches -- all on the road.  Senior middle blocker Caitlin Wallace (2.80 kps) and sophomore outside hitter Marissa Olivares (2.24 kps) lead  the MSU attack, but seven other players average between 1.40 and 1.92 kills per set for the Mustangs' diversified offense. Freshman setters Sarah Rosinke (6.33 aps) and Alyssa Fulgium (2.49 aps) direct MSU to a .168 team attack percentage. Wallace (0.90 bps) and freshman Sarah Garfield (0.77 bps) highlight the Mustangs' play at the net while junior libero Casey Fletcher heads back row efforts with 4.70 digs per set.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Senior middle blocker Caitlin Wallace put down a match-high 16 kills while Marija Jovanovic had 10 kills to lead Midwestern State to a 17-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-21 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville last Saturday on the road. The Mustangs hit .221 as a team as freshman Sarah Rosinke notched 29 assists and seven digs. Wallace added four total blocks while freshman Sarah Garfield and senior Beatriz Villalba had three each. Junior Casey Fletcher (17) and redshirt-freshman Madelyn Johnson (15) combined for 32 digs.
 
LAST TIME OUT VS. WEST TEXAS A&M (Sep. 17)
West Texas A&M senior middle blocker Laura Iwuchukwu notched a double-double with 10 kills and 11 blocks to lead the 15th-ranked Lady Buffs to a 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 LSC opening win over Midwestern State at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Senior middle blocker Caitlin Wallace paced the Mustangs with nine kills while senior right-side hitter Michelle Blount came off of the bench to put down seven kills of her own.
 
LAST TIME OUT VS. EASTERN NEW MEXICO
Eastern New Mexico freshman combination of Lauren Frye and Courtney Lawson put down 20 kills to pace the Zias to a 26-24, 25-22, 26-24 win over Midwestern State at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Senior middle blocker Caitlin Wallace led the Mustangs with eight kills and four blocks while Kaitlyn Molloy added six kills. Freshman Alyssa Fulgium notched her first career double-double with 15 assists and 12 digs.
 
THE LSC RACE
West Texas A&M (7-0) has opened up a two-game lead on the rest of the field followed by Texas Woman's (5-2), Tarleton State (4-2), Angelo State (5-3), Texas A&M-Commerce (4-3), Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-4), Midwestern State (2-6), Eastern New Mexico (2-6) and Cameron (0-7). The top six teams advance to the LSC Postseason Tournament set for Nov. 21-23 at the site of the regular season champion.
 
THREE...DOT...THOUGHTS...
Midwestern State extended its winning streak to three matches claiming road wins over Southern Nazarene (3-2) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-1) last week to improve to 10-7 on the season... The Mustangs improved to 5-1 in matches extended beyond three sets this season including a 3-0 mark in 4-set encounters and a 2-1 record in five-setters... Senior middle blocker Caitlin Wallace moved into fourth place on the school's all-time block assists chart and now has 215 career block assists. She needs 14 block assists to pace Shayna Buxton (1996-99) and Ashley Hester (1997-00) into second place behind Sesley Graves, who had 344 from 2006-09... Wallace ranks seventh on the program's all-time total blocks list with 252. She needs to 20 more to move past Lauren Bayer (268, 2009-10), Shayna Buxton (269, 1996-99) and Ashley Hester (271, 1997-00) and into fourth place... Wallace continues to lead the Lone Star Conference with a .350 hitting percentage. The hitting percentage would fourth on MSU's all-time single-season list topped by TiAda Hill's .411 kill rate in 1993... Senior Marija Jovanovic produced her first two double-figure kill performances of the season putting down 11 kills with two errors at  Southern Nazarene before notching 10 kills with a single error against Texas A&M-Kingsville... Freshman setter Sarah Rosinke notched her third double-double of the season with 28 set assists and 13 digs at Southern Nazarene... Freshman Alyssa Fulgium, who has played herself into a setter in MSU's 6-2 system, notched her second double-double with 24 set assists and 10 digs at Southern Nazarene... Junior libero Casey Fletcher has posted 10-or-more digs in each of her last eight matches including a season-high 29 at Southern Nazarene last week... Freshman Sarah Garfield had seven kills in each of MSU's win last week and had a season-high five blocks Tuesday at Southern Nazarene...Sophomore Nicole Marzik posted a season high 14 kills and completed her second double-double of the season with 18 digs Tuesday at Southern Nazarene... Freshman Cody Moore had a season-high nine kills Tuesday at Southern Nazarene then followed it up with six kills and two blocks in her first collegiate start Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville...