WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Midwestern State (16-12, 11-6) closed out the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Lubbock Christian (12-15, 8-9) and secured the No. 5 seed in the upcoming LSC Volleyball Championship. The Mustangs won two tightly contested sets to start the match before dominating the fourth set in a 30-28, 28-26, 19-25, 25-16 victory. The loss eliminated the Lady Chaps from postseason contention.
Midwestern State will make its first appearance in the conference tournament since the spring of 2021, when the Mustangs finished the shortened pandemic season with a 10-7 record. The Mustangs face No. 4-seed St. Edward's in their first match of the LSC Volleyball Championship.
Jenna Redding,
Emerson Reedy,
Nyle Mathis,
Jaiden Wright,
Isabella Dickens,
Remi Madison and
Giselle Cazares were the seven seniors recognized during Senior Night ceremonies following the match on Friday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
The Mustangs outlasted Lubbock Christian 30-28 in the opening set, finishing it with an
Isabella Dickens kill for a 29-28 lead and a Lubbock Christian attack error on set point. Earlier, MSU answered a 14-13 deficit by winning seven of the next eight rallies, with
TaNia Penn and
Emerson Reedy adding kills,
Macy Scheer serving an ace, and
Remi Madison and Reedy combining on a block to make it 20-15. Lubbock Christian worked back into the set and forced ties at 24, 25, 26 and 27 before moving ahead 28-27. The Mustangs responded with a service error point, then closed the extended set behind Dickens and the final Lubbock Christian error.
MSU answered Lubbock Christian's late 26-25 lead by scoring the final three points, with Penn and Dickens delivering kills before a Lubbock Christian attack error ended the set at 28-26. Earlier, the Mustangs started quickly behind Reedy, who had two early kills and teamed with Penn on a block as the home team moved in front 4-1. Scheer repeatedly set the attack through the middle of the set, assisting kills by
Nyle Mathis, Penn, Dickens and
Aaliyah Toppin as the Maroon & Gold carried leads of 14-10 and 20-18. Lubbock Christian tied the set at 20-20 and later had set-point chances at 25-24 and 26-25, but MSU answered each time before finishing the set with the 28-26 win.
The Mustangs were even at 17-17 after Dickens and Penn combined on a block, but Lubbock Christian answered with six straight points to move in front 23-17. Earlier, the set stayed tight as Toppin, Dickens, Mathis, Reedy and Penn all finished kills, with Scheer assisting on several of those swings. Mathis also teamed with Reedy on a block that tied the set at 5-5, then later paired with Dickens on another block to bring MSU level at 12-12. Penn stopped the late Lubbock Christian stretch with a kill, and the Mustangs added one more point on an attack error, but Lubbock Christian finished the set 25-19.
MSU created the key early separation in the fourth set with two four-point service turns, moving from a 1-1 tie to a 5-1 lead on
Isabella Dickens' serve and then from 6-4 to 10-4 with Scheer serving. Mathis had three kills in the first five Mustangs points, while the Scheer service stretch included kills by Madison and Penn and a Scheer ace. Lubbock Christian later worked the score to 15-12, but the Maroon & Gold responded with a Dickens block, a Dickens kill and a Mathis kill to reach 18-12. Reedy and Dickens added late kills, Dickens and Penn combined on a block to make it 24-16, and Penn finished the set with a kill from Scheer for a 25-16 MSU win.
Dickens led the Mustangs with 22 points, finishing with 19 kills, five blocks and eight digs. Mathis matched the team high with 19 kills and added two blocks for 20 points. Scheer recorded 61 assists, 11 digs and two service aces.
Jenna Redding collected a team-high 25 digs and added two assists.
The nine-team LSC Volleyball Championship will be Nov. 11-14 at the Junell Center in San Angelo.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
