THE RUNDOWN
COMMERCE, Texas – Midwestern State took second place Texas A&M-Commerce down to the wire before dropping a five-set heartbreaker to the Lions Tuesday evening at the A&M-Commerce Field House.
 
Freshman Raven Presley (13 kills) and sophomore Erin Richburg (12 kills, 11 digs) combined for nearly half of Midwestern State's (9-11, 3-8 LSC) kills as the Mustangs used a balanced offensive attack with four players recording at least eight kills in the match.
 
In the opening set, the Mustangs claimed a 13-7 lead with Presley putting down three kills to give MSU an early edge. Texas A&M-Commerce (14-7, 9-2 LSC) answered with a 10-3 spurt to move in front at 17-16 before a Richburg kill evened the set up. After going point-for-point, the Mustangs closed out the frame behind the serve of senior Aerielle Edwards with senior Addison Semer posting a pair of kills to record a 25-21 victory.
 
The Lions opened up a 10-6 advantage on MSU in the second set before going on a 6-1 run later in the game to grab a 22-14 lead. Midwestern was only able to come within six down the stretch with a Layne Little kill evening up the match at 1-1 with a 25-18 win.
 
An 11-3 start to the third game set the tone for the Mustangs with a match-best .318 hitting percentage to roll to a 25-14 win. Richburg paced MSU with four kills in the set while Edwards tallied four of her career-high six service aces in the first nine MSU points to help the Mustangs take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce forced a decisive fifth set behind Little's six kills in the fourth in a 25-21 win. The Lions built an early 10-6 lead before the Mustangs evened up the set at 10-all. MSU answered another run by A&M-Commerce before the Lions tallied the final three points of the set to knot the contest at 2-2.
 
Midwestern held the momentum early in the fifth set, jumping out to a 4-1 advantage with a pair of Presley kills. It was a tight set the remainder of the way as the Mustangs erased a three-point deficit to force an A&M-Commerce timeout at 11-all. After Presley pulled MSU ahead at 13-12, kills by Jaryn Wacker and Mariyah Oliver sandwiched around an ace for Savannah Rutledge sealed an eighth-straight win for the Lions with a 15-13 victory in the final game.
 
NOTES
- Raven Presley finished with a season-high 13 kills behind a .400 hitting percentage to lead the Mustangs
- Presley hit over .350 for the third-straight match, totaling 30 kills and just five hitting errors in that span
- Erin Richburg notched her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs
- Aerielle Edwards finished with over 20 digs for the fifth time this season with 23, while posting a career-best six service aces
- Edwards' six aces were the fourth most for a five-set match in program history, and the most by a Mustang in five sets since Shay Velasquez's eight aces against Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) on Sept. 8, 2007
- Kristin Silva registered a season-high 16 digs
- Meghan Bettis added nine kills for the Mustangs while Addison Semer finished with eight
- Semer and Sarah Eakin each posted five blocks to lead the Mustangs to 11 on the night, their sixth double-figure block outing of the season
- Kristan Aduddell dished out 41 assists while adding seven digs
- Midwestern State hit .154 for the match while limiting Texas A&M-Commerce to a .123 hitting percentage
- Layne Little (12 kills, 11 digs) and Mariyah Oliver (12 kills) paced the Lions offense on the night
- Rylie Fuentes (17 digs, 16 assists) and Savannah Rutledge (16 digs) led the Lions in digs while Jaslyn Wacker posted nine blocks to lead all players
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State begins a three-match homestand this weekend with a pair of matches Friday against West Texas A&M (1:30 p.m.) and Newman (7 p.m.) before playing host to UT Permian Basin (1 p.m.) Saturday at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.