CANYON, Texas – Three double-figure kill performances was not enough for the Midwestern State volleyball team Friday night as the Mustangs dropped a 3-1 contest (25-18, 25-20, 26-28, 25-20) to West Texas A&M at the WTAMU Fieldhouse.  

Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Midwestern State (5-17, 0-8 LSC) looked to avoid the sweep in the third set as sophomore outside hitter Addison Semer put down a kill to give the Mustangs a 22-19 lead. However, West Texas A&M (9-10, 2-6 LSC) rallied to even the frame at 22-all to force a Midwestern timeout.

Attacking errors by the Mustangs gave the Lady Buffs match point at 24-22 but Midwestern held off WT as back-to-back kills from freshman middle blocker Olivia Schiffner put the Maroon and Gold in front at 25-24.

With the set knotted at 26 apiece, kills from senior outside hitter Hunter Porter and sophomore outside hitter Meghan Bettis closed the door on a WT sweep as the Mustangs recorded a 28-26 win.

Midwestern carried the momentum over into the fourth frame, taking a 7-4 lead following a WT service error. After the Lady Buffs trimmed down their deficit, the home team put together a 3-0 run to take a 17-15 advantage following a block by senior middle blocker Lexi Davis and junior middle blocker Cori Haley.

The Mustangs came back within one down the stretch before a 4-0 run propelled the Lady Buffs to a 25-20 fourth set victory to take the match 3-1.

In the opening set, the Mustangs jumped out to a 4-0 advantage before the Lady Buffs answered with a 4-0 run to knot the set. With WT holding a slight lead, a kill by Porter brought Midwestern to within a point at 16-15.

However, the Lady Buffs opened up a 19-15 advantage following a block by junior middle blocker Elisa Bentsen and junior setter Jessica Jackson. WT only allowed the Mustangs back within three as the Lady Buffs recorded a 25-18 opening set win.

It was the Lady Buffs that began the second set strong, taking a 7-3 advantage following a Davis kill. With WT holding an 11-5 lead, a kill by Bettis sparked a 4-0 spurt for the Mustangs with pull within two.

The Lady Buffs responded by bringing their lead out to a comfortable 16-10 following another block by Bentsen and Jackson. Kills from Bettis and Semer helped bring the Mustangs back within three late but the Lady Buffs were able to pull out a 25-20 win to take a 2-0 lead in to halftime.

Porter paced the Mustangs with 14 kills while Schiffner added 12 and Bettis finished with 11. Freshman setter Kendall Chamberlain tallied 34 assists in three sets while freshman libero Matti Dix put together another impressive outing on the defensive end by leading all players with 28 digs.

Midwestern State next travels to Eastern New Mexico for a 2 p.m. (CT) match Saturday against the Greyhounds in Portales.