Box Score (PDF)

THE RUNDOWN
COMMERCE, Texas – Midwestern State suffered its second five-set defeat of the weekend Saturday afternoon as Texas A&M-Commerce erased a 2-0 deficit to earn the 3-2 win (21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-12) over the Mustangs at the A&M-Commerce Field House.
 
Aerielle Edwards helped lead Midwestern State (7-8, 3-4 LSC) to a 25-21 first set win with a team-best five kills in the opening frame. The Mustangs put together a 7-0 run to take a 15-11 advantage before the Lions evened the score at 19-all following a kill by Daisge Smith. The Mustangs pulled away with Meghan Bettis recording a pair of kills before an ace by Sarah Garfield gave the first set to the visitors.
 
Edwards reached double figures in kills in the second set with her 10th kill giving the Mustangs a 25-23 win in the frame to take a 2-0 lead in the match. MSU overcame a 4-1 deficit to start the set before a 5-0 run behind a pair of aces from Christy Carruth helped the Mustangs grab a 10-7 lead. Midwestern stretched its lead to as many as five following three-straight kills, however, Texas A&M-Commerce (10-6, 4-2 LSC) responded by knotting the set at 20 apiece after back-to-back MSU attack errors. Edwards came through for the Mustangs down the stretch with three-straight kills to propel MSU to the win.
 
A&M-Commerce held Midwestern to a .067 hitting percentage in the third frame as the Mustangs committed five attack errors in the latter part of the set to help the Lions pull away. A service ace for Erin Richburg gave MSU a 13-10 advantage before the Lions evened the set at 14 apiece. From there, A&M-Commerce mounted an 11-4 run to avoid the sweep in a 25-18 victory.
 
The Lions posted a match-best .267 hitting percentage to record a 25-18 win in set four. After Midwestern State pulled within 16-14 to force a TAMUC timeout, the Lions closed the frame on a 5-0 run with Smith recording a pair of aces in the spurt.
 
A&M-Commerce jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the decisive set following a kill by Bina Njikam. The Mustangs crept back within two at 14-12 after fending off three match points before a kill for Taryn Drive completed the comeback for the Lions.

NOTES
*Aerielle Edwards led the Mustangs in kills for the third-straight match and the eighth time this season with 18 kills and a team-best .268 hitting percentage
*Meghan Bettis recorded her team-high sixth double-double of the season with 11 kills and a team-best 11 digs
*Sarah Garfield reached double-digit kills for the sixth time this season with 10 kills
*Kristan Aduddell paced the MSU offense with 45 assists
*Midwestern State was held to a .163 hitting percentage while A&M-Commerce finished at .186 for the match
*The Mustangs held a 12-4 advantage in blocks with Addison Semer totaling a season-best five rejections

STAT OF THE GAME
9 – Aerielle Edwards reached double-digit kills for the ninth time in 12 matches this season

UP NEXT 
Midwestern State concludes its six-match road trip Tuesday with a 6 p.m. non-conference meeting with Southern Nazarene at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.