EDMOND, Okla. — Midwestern State lost to Oklahoma Christian 3-1 on Thursday night at Payne Athletic Center. The Mustangs claimed their lone set by coming back from 24-22 down to win the second 27-25, but were held to .148 and .071 hitting in the final two sets.
MSU recovered from an early 8-2 deficit in the first set, then answered a 9-3 hole by winning seven of the next eight rallies to tie OC at 10-10. Remi Madison had two kills during that push, Jaiden Wright added a kill, Savannah Cummings served an ace and the Mustangs benefited from three OC errors to get back even. The Eagles later reached 18-13, but MSU responded again with a Madison kill, a Macy Scheer ace, an OC error and another Wright kill to close to 18-17. Nyle Mathis kept the Mustangs close with three late kills, and Ella Koch added a kill at 24-21 before a service error ended the set.
The Mustangs erased a late 24-22 deficit in the second set and closed out a 27-25 win, getting kills from Mathis, Isabella Dickens and Mathis again before the final point came on an OC attack error. The Eagles opened the set with the first two points, Wright and Mathis answered with kills from Scheer to help put MSU in front 3-2. The Mustangs also responded to an 11-9 hole with points from a Wright kill, an OC service error, another Wright kill, an opponent attack error and a Koch kill to move ahead 14-12. OC later moved back in front 22-20 and reached 24-22, but MSU got late kills from Wright, Mathis and Dickens before finishing the set at 27-25.
OC broke open the third set after the Mustangs had pulled even at 5-5 and 6-6, using multiple scoring stretches to create separation. Earlier, Mathis answered the opening point with a kill from Jenna Redding and added another finish from Scheer, while Koch put down two kills as MSU stayed level through the first 12 points. The Eagles then scored five straight to move from 6-6 to 11-6, later put together a four-point service turn by Summer Van Meerveld to make it 16-7 and added another four straight to reach 22-9. Facing set point at 24-11, the Mustangs won four straight behind two Dickens kills and two OC attack errors, but the Eagles scored the next point to finish the set, 25-15.
MSU could not recover from an early OC surge in the fourth set, falling behind 9-2 after a six-point stretch that included two service aces and several Mustangs attack errors. The Maroon & Gold answered in pockets, with Koch, Aubree Bunker and Wright recording kills before Mathis added two later finishes off Scheer assists. MSU made its clearest push from 19-12 down, getting a Dickens kill, a Koch ace and another Dickens kill to pull within 19-15. The Eagles responded with four straight points to move ahead 23-15, and although Bunker added a late kill, the home side closed the set 25-17.
Scheer recorded 42 assists and added a service ace. Redding finished with 16 digs and two assists. Mathis shared the MSU lead with 11 kills while hitting .304. Koch added nine kills, 11 digs and two service aces.
Up next, MSU faces Texas A&M-Kingsville in Edmond, Oklahoma, on Friday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m.
