DENTON, Texas - Midwestern State suffered back-to-back losses Friday on the opening day of the Denton Volleyfest at Kitty Magee Arena. Ouachita Baptist swept past the Mustangs in the first match 18-25, 22-25, 19-25. Northwestern Oklahoma handed the Mustangs a 19-25, 26-28, 25-13, 17-25 defeat to close out the first day.

MATCH ONE | Ouachita Baptist 3, Midwestern State 0

Ouachita Baptist used a five-point run in the first set to take a 12-6 lead over the Mustangs and never looked back. The Tigers coasted to a seven-point victory in the first set, hitting .286 with 15 kills and three errors on 42 attacks.

Another five-point run in the second set allowed OBU to take a 17-10 lead in the second set. Autumn Roach won three-straight serves, and the Mustangs narrowed the deficit by winning 6-of-8 points but trailed 22-20. The Tigers held on to take a 2-0 lead.

OBU only committed two errors on 36 attacks in the third set and hit .361 for the set. The Tigers established an early 9-5 lead and a five-point run propelled them to a 17-10 advantage. Midwestern State won 5-of-6 points late in the set to draw within two, but OBU completed the sweep with a 25-22 victory.

Kelli Ell led the Mustangs with a season-high 10 kills and only committed two errors on 20 swings to hit .400 in the match. Aaliyah Burras had eight kills and two blocks in the match. Taygon Jones finished with 19 digs, and Lauryn Bourne added another 16 for MSU.

MATCH TWO | Northwestern Oklahoma 3, Midwestern State 1

Addison Wimmer and Tarra Parks combined for 33 of 46 kills as Northwestern Oklahoma rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Eastern New Mexico earlier in the day and defeated the Mustangs in four sets.

The first set was knotted, 19-19, but the Rangers pulled away by winning the final six points of the set. NWOSU hit .237 in the opening set. MSU finished with an attack average of .050 after recording eight kills with six errors on 40 attacks.

A closely contested second set saw the Rangers take an early 5-2 lead, but they never led the set by more than three points. Midwestern State pulled even at 6-6, and the set remained close. A service error by Taygon Jones allowed NWOSU to reclaim a three-point lead briefly at 15-12, but the Mustangs responded with a three-point run. Reagan Wilms had back-to-back aces to tie the set, 15-15.

Neither team would lead by more than two points down the stretch. MSU had a four-point run to take 24-22 lead. A block by Carmae Jones and an ace from Andrea Coady allowed the Rangers to pull even.

The Mustangs fought off a set point with a kill from Autumn Roach, who then assisted Sadie Portmann to give MSU another set point. NWOSU closed out the set by reeling off three straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Midwestern State hit .204 in the third set and raced to an 11-4 lead. The Mustangs won seven of the final 10 points in the set en route to a 25-13 triumph.

The fourth set was a close battle in the early stages as Robyn White recorded one of her eight kills to tie the set, 13-13, but the Mustangs would only win four more points and lost the set, 25-17.

NWOSU leads the all-time series with Midwestern State, 4-0.

Portmann finished with 12 kills and eight errors on 32 attacks for a hitting average of .125. As a team, the Mustangs hit .096 for the match. Aaliyah Burras matched the Rangers total with six blocks for the Maroon and Gold. Jones led the match with 20 digs, and Roach had 24 assists for the Mustangs.
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