Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- The Midwestern State Hampton Inn-Vitational was full of excitement and lows on the first day. The Mustangs began the tournament against No. 22 Colorado Mesa, but eventually fell in three sets (17-25, 17-25, 17-25). However, the team rallied to take Eastern New Mexico 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23) in the second match. Sitting at 1-6 for the season, MSU moves on to face Arkansas Tech.

Game 1: Colorado Mesa

Against the Mavericks, Midwestern State started strong. They kept up and only trailed by one at 10-9. Then things start to go downhill for the Mustangs as CMU took off. Colorado Mesa landed 11 kills in the first set and tallied a 0.242 hitting percent and went on to gain the 25-17 victory.

MSU made 12 kills, their highest of the match, with Kaitlynn Stoker leading the pack with three in the first set. Stoker went on to gain nine smack downs in 23 total attempts. The junior notched nine points and a .304 hitting percent.

Round two was very similar to set one where the Mustangs held on at first but then slowly trailed off. Midwestern State created ten kills with a 0.161 hitting percent. Lauryn Bourne and Alex Serna each registered two kills. Bourne ended the night with five kills, two assists and 12 digs to her name. This is the third match this season that the sophomore recorded 12 or more passes. Serna posted four total kills in two sets.

Colorado Mesa inked their highest kills of the match with 15 with only three errors in their second 25-17 win.

The final set looked like it was going to be different for MSU as they came back from being down 4-10 to tying at 12 all. Unfortunately a six point run by the Mavericks followed and put the game away at 17-25. The visitors had 13 kills and their best team hitting percent at 0.367. Sydney Leffler lead both teams with 11 kills on the night while Savannah Spitzer recorded four block assists.

Junior Taylor Anderson completed two of her five kills in the last set and rallied up six points for the Mustangs. Delaney Torres collected two service aces and Autumn Roach lead the team again with 16 assists.

Game 2: Eastern New Mexico

Hungry for a win, Midwestern State leapt to a three point lead right off in set one. The team pushed ahead of the Greyhounds for the entire game even after ENM put together a five point streak to land at 21-23. In the end, MSU finished off with a 25-22 win.

The Mustangs carried 17 kills with seven from middle blocker Lissette Lefforge. The senior totaled 11 kills, which tied her season-high from the Seattle Pacific competition. Eastern New Mexico put together a match-high 12 kills and .37 hitting percent.

In set two, MSU sped out to the lead on a four point streak, which was highlighted by Reagan Willms' two service aces. The freshman totaled four on the match and added 18 assists. Despite a four point run late in the set by ENM, Midwestern State pulled out the 25-18 victory. Bourne hit five of her 13 kills in the second set and finished by leading both teams on the net.

The Greyhounds notched only seven kills in 28 total attacks for a .179 hitting percent. Daejia Rodriguez and Jasmine Gannon each tallied two hits.

In what would be the Mustangs' final set of the day, the two teams battled until the very end. There were five lead changes between Midwestern State and Eastern New Mexico but in the end, the home side fought off the visitors' pursuits and won 25-23.

ENM made 11 kills and four of their seven blocks in the third set. Gracelyn Stubbs led the Greyhounds with seven kills while Mikaela Garvin had six.

MSU's Amy DeWalt led both teams with 20 digs, her highest thus far this season. The defensive specialist also had two assists while fellow freshman Kelli Ell collected five kills and two digs on the night.

Midwestern State is back in D.L. Ligon Coliseum for the second and final day of the Hampton Inn-Vitational. The last match is against Arkansas Tech and is slated to start at 11:30 a.m.