Midwestern State at Texas A&M-Kingsville
Saturday, Sept 18 – 1 p.m.
Steinke Center (Kingsville, Texas)
All-Time Series: TAMUK leads 24-12
Video | Live Stats
 
KINGSVILLE, Texas -- After an impressive five-set finish to gain their first conference win at Texas A&M International on Friday, Midwestern State looks to repeat the feat at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs and the Javelinas face-off at 1 p.m. in the Steinke Center for the second Lone Star Conference match of the weekend.

FIVE STORY LINES

1 | Lauryn Bourne had an impressive outing against TAMIU with 14 kills and 29 digs for the Mustangs. The outside hitter has tallied 107 total points on the season to average 3.15 per set, good for 21st in the Lone Star Conference. On the attack, Bourne recorded 2.85 kills per set, which lands her 15th in the conference. Her total 97 kills is fifth in the LSC with 19 coming in the first game of the season against Colorado Christian (9/3). On the defensive side, the sophomore is second on the team with 93 digs, tallying a career-high 29 digs against Texas A&M International (9/17). In the 2020 season, Bourne notched 148 kills for a 2.85 average and added 3.12 digs per set.

2 | Lissette Lefforge is the top blocker for Midwestern State and things didn't change during the match against Texas A&M International. Lefforge recorded one solo block and four assists against eh Dustdevils on Sept. 17. The middle blocker has 31 total shutdowns on the year and her average of 0.91 per set is 11th best in the Lone Star Conference. Her best performance came against Seattle Pacific (9/4) when she registered eight blocks on the match - all as block assists. The senior now has five games with four or more blocks. In addition, Lefforge averages 2.90 points per game, which is 28th in the conference. Overall, she has notched 76 kills and a .209 attack percent. In 2020, Lefforge had 162 kills and averaged 2.28 pet set while gaining 0.75 average blocks.

3| Autumn Roach leads MSU from the setter's spot so far this season, with a career-best 38 assists versus TAMIU. The sophomore collected 194 assists and averages a conference 13th best 5.71 per set. The setter has six matches in 2021 with 20 or more assists. Roach's best performance came in 2020 against Arkansas Fort Smith when she tallied 28 assists for the Mustangs.

4 | Midwestern State as a team sits in the top ten in the LSC in three different categories. MSU has collected 368 assists throughout the year with a season-high 63 against TAMIU (9/17). This earns the team seventh in the conference with the same rank for total kills. Kills has racked up to 401 for MSU with the highest coming against Texas A&M International (9/17) with 67. The Mustangs' total attacks for the year sits at 1154 with 204 gathered at International (9/17), coming in ninth in the LSC.

5 | Texas A&M-Kingsville is off to a strong start on the year, earning a perfect 6-0 record thus far. The team went undefeated at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational in San Angelo, Texas, and took off Ouachita Baptist (9/8) by 3-2. The Javelinas were slated to compete in the MSU Hampton Inn-Vitational, but had to drop out last minute. On Friday, Sept. 17, they swept Cameron 3-0 in their first conference match. Jackie Alanis leads TAMUK with 3.83 kills per set to average 4.23 points. The sophomore's 18 kills helped the team push past Cameron (9/17). Emily Witt leads from the setting spot with 135 total assists and a 8.44 average. Nicole Muff has 12 service aces on the year and collected 5.25 digs per set. Tammy Jo Grohman leads on the net with 1.04 blocks per set.

HEAD COACH VALERIE ARMSTRONG enters her fourth season at the helm of the Midwestern State volleyball program. In the shortened 2020 season, the team amounted a 10-7 overall record, the best winning percentage since 2008. Another feat from last year was the program's first Lone Star Conference postseason win that came against DBU (3/23). Over three season, Armstrong has obtained a 23-51 record. Before coming to Midwestern State in 2018, she had experience at all levels of collegiate volleyball. In Division I, Armstrong was assistant coach at Binghamton and Alabama State. She saw time as a head coach at two junior colleges including Vernon College and Colby Community College. Her first coaching job was the assistant at NAIA University of the Southwest in 2007 after graduating from Oklahoma Panhandle State. There she earned OPSU Female Athlete of the Year honors after leading the Aggies with 2.50 kills and 0.47 blocks per set as a senior in 2006.

SERIES WITH THE JAVELINAS
Saturday's match will be the 37th meeting between Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Kingsville with the first match taking place in 1989 in Austin, Texas. Overall, the Javelinas have the advantage on the series with a 24-12 lead. In conference play, MSU sits 10-19 against TAMUK and has a 3-11 record at Steinke Center. The two teams last met in 2019, where the Mustangs pulled out a 3-1 victory on their home court.