WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Midwestern State extended its winning streak to four matches with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20) win over Southern Nazarene at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Tuesday night.
The Mustangs had four players finish with double-digit kills and rallied from a set down for the third time during the winning streak. MSU overcame a 16-11 deficit to win the fourth set and improved its overall record to 10-8 and its home record to 3-2 this season. Southern Nazarene fell to 12-8 for the season.
MSU cut a five-point deficit to 19-17 in the opening set, using SNU service errors and kills from
Nyle Mathis and
Jaiden Wright to stay within reach. Earlier, after the Crimson Storm opened a 5-1 lead,
Jenna Redding served an ace and
TaNia Penn followed with a kill from
Macy Scheer to help the Mustangs close the gap to 5-4.
Isabella Dickens added three kills through the middle of the set, including back-to-back points that brought the Maroon & Gold within 17-14.
Jaiden Wright's later kill made it 20-18, but SNU scored the next four points and finished the set 25-19.
MSU overcame an early 2-0 hole in the second set and used
Macy Scheer's serve to break a 4-4 tie, with Scheer recording an ace, setting up two Mathis kills and serving through a point finished with a Wright block for an 8-4 lead. SNU worked back to a 12-12 tie, but the Mustangs answered with an
Aaliyah Toppin kill, a
Savannah Cummings service ace and a Mathis kill from Dickens to move back in front 15-12. MSU kept finding points through the middle and late stages, getting kills from Dickens, Wright and Toppin before another Cummings ace made it 23-19. After the Crimson Storm pulled within 24-22, Wright closed the set with a Scheer-assisted kill to give the Maroon & Gold a 25-22 win.
MSU took control of the third set with two four-point service turns and finished off a 25-18 win. The set opened with kills from Toppin and Dickens helping the Mustangs move in front, and
Macy Scheer's service turn pushed the margin from 6-4 to 10-4 behind kills from Wright, Mathis and Penn. SNU worked back to 11-9, but MSU answered on
Jenna Redding's serve with a run to 16-9 that included kills from Dickens, Penn and Toppin. The Mustangs kept the separation late with contributions from Penn, Mathis, Scheer and Wright, then closed the set on Dickens' kill for the 25-18 finish.
The Maroon & Gold turned the fourth set after falling behind 18-16, winning seven of the next eight rallies to move in front 23-19. Earlier, the Crimson Storm built a 9-4 lead before the Mustangs worked back within 10-8 behind a Dickens kill, a Scheer kill and two SNU errors. After the Crimson Storm later led 16-11, Toppin had two kills during another push, and Mathis followed with a kill before a Wright-Scheer block tied the set at 18-18. Wright put MSU ahead with a kill, Mathis added two more kills during the late run, and Scheer served an ace before Wright and Penn delivered the final two kills in a 25-20 set win.
Wright led MSU with 16 kills, hit .406 and added three blocks for 18 points. Scheer recorded 58 assists, two service aces, seven digs and three blocks. Redding finished with a team-high 24 digs and added a service ace. Mathis tallied 15 kills and 15 points. Dickens had 13 kills and Toppin finished with 12.
The Mustangs hit .268 for the match, and the Crimson Storm finished with a .261 hitting percentage.
Up next, the Mustangs host UT Dallas on Friday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. in Wichita Falls, Texas.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
