WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Aaliyah Burras had 13 kills and hit .407 for Midwestern State, but the Mustangs lost a tightly contested match with St. Mary's at Ligon Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, 23-25, 19-25, 25-23,22-25.
Taylor Anderson and
Sadie Portmann each contributed 14 kills for the Mustangs, who fell to 3-11 for the season and 1-1 in conference play. Landri Withers paced the Rattlers with 15 kills and 16 digs.
St. Mary's jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the opening set, but the Mustangs rallied to tie the set after Burras recorded back-to-back kills to make it 19-19. The Rattlers won the next three points. Midwestern faced four set points before succumbing to St. Mary's.
The Mustangs only managed an attack percentage of .071 in the second set, while the Rattlers hit .189.
Midwestern State had 19 kills in the third set and won 10-of-13 points to take an 11-7 lead. St. Mary's would never get closer than three points as MSU extended the match to a fourth set after hitting .191 in the third.
The Rattlers reeled off five straight points to open the fourth set, and it appeared as though St. Mary's would coast to a victory, but MSU staged a rally after falling behind, 7-1.The Mustangs won 6-of-9 points to draw within one point, 16-15. St. Mary's re-established a four-point lead, but Midwestern State won four straight to tie the set, 20-20. The Maroon and Gold only managed to win two more points before Withers ended the match with a kill.
St. Mary's improved to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in the LSC.
Midwestern State is on the road for its next two matches, facing UTPB at the Falcon Dome in Odessa on Friday at 7 p.m., and Angelo State hosts the Mustangs Saturday at 2 p.m.
--MSU Mustangs.com--
