Box Score (PDF)

THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State went neck-and-neck with West Texas A&M before falling 3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 26-28, 25-18) in a tightly contested Lone Star Conference matchup Saturday evening at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
Midwestern State (5-5, 1-1 LSC) took a three-point lead midway through the first set with junior outside hitter Meghan Bettis pacing the MSU offense with six kills in the frame. The teams went point-for-point a majority of the set before West Texas A&M (6-4, 2-0 LSC) closed out the game on a 5-0 run thanks to three-straight blocks from Michael Montgomery and Audra Jones.
 
In the second set, the Lady Buffs built as much as a six-point lead at 14-8 before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 spurt to pull within one. A pair of stuffs from junior middle blocker Addison Semer helped ignite a 6-0 MSU run to take a 20-16 advantage and force a WT timeout. However, the Lady Buffs weren't through yet, mounting a 4-0 run to even the set at 20 apiece. A Bettis kill gave the Mustangs set point at 24-22 before a few MSU errors down the stretch prevented the Mustangs from evening the match with WT in a 26-24 loss.
 
It was a close third set throughout with neither team taking more than a three-point lead. The Mustangs fended off the first of three match points as junior right side hitter Sarah Garfield delivered a kill to even the set at 24-all. After a service error gave the Lady Buffs match point once again, a pair of Semer kills sandwiched around a kill for Bettis gave the Mustangs the set at 28-26 for a 2-1 score.
 
Bettis posted seven of her 18 kills in the fourth set but the Lady Buffs pulled away from a 15-14 score, closing the set on a 10-4 run to earn the 25-18 victory and take the match, 3-1.

NOTES
*Meghan Bettis led the Mustangs in kills for the fifth time this season
*Freshman outside hitter Erin Richburg tallied a career-best 16 kills while Sarah Garfield also reached double digits with 11
*Junior setter Kristan Aduddell dished out a career-best 53 assists to lead MSU

STAT OF THE GAME
3 – The Mustangs sported three players in double-figure kills Saturday
 
UP NEXT 
Midwestern State begins a six-match road trip Tuesday as the Mustangs cross the Red River to face Cameron in a 7 p.m. LSC contest at Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.