SILVER CITY, N.M. – Midwestern State opened Lone Star Conference play with its first-ever win at Drag's Court, defeating Western New Mexico 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 27-25) on Thursday night. The MSU Mustangs won for the third time in four matches and have won back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
Jaiden Wright finished with 11 kills on 15 attacks and led Midwestern State (5-6, 1-0) with a .600 hitting percentage. As a team, Midwestern State hit .266 and limited WNMU (6-6, 0-1) to a .157 hitting percentage.
The MSU Mustangs had five players with at least five kills, led by Nyle Mathis' eight kills. Aubree Bunker had six kills on 14 swings without an attack error for a hitting percentage of .429.
Macy Scheer had 18 digs, five digs and four service aces for the Mustangs, who won the first three points of the first set and never trailed, establishing a 14-5 lead on a Bunker kill, assisted by Jenna Redding. Scheer closed the set with an ace as Midwestern State won three of the last four points in a 25-17 win. The MSU Mustangs hit .367 in the opening set.
The second set featured eight ties and three lead changes. Midwestern State won six of the final eight points, and Scheer assisted Wright on a kill that secured a 25-22 victory.
Western New Mexico trailed 11-10 in the third set, which saw nine lead changes. The MSU Mustangs started to pull away with a four-point run, started by a TaNia Penn kill. Scheer delivered a service ace. After a Daphne Posthumus attack error, Redding assisted on a Mathis kill to put MSU ahead in the third set 15-10.
Isabella Dickens, who hit .278 with six kills, started another four-point run that gave the MSU Mustangs a 22-16 lead following a kill from Remi Madison. Western New Mexico reeled off six-straight points to tie the third set 22-22. Bunker put away a set from Scheer to give MSU its first set point, 24-23. WNMU withstood two set points, but a Scheer ace gave Midwestern State a third chance to finish the match, and a Posthumus error sealed the MSU Mustangs' first road win of the season.
Redding had 13 digs and five assists, while Madison finished with seven kills and seven digs. Maxime Pheasant was responsible for 11 assists and eight digs. MSU had 38 assists and 57 digs in the victory.
Midwestern State was making its ninth visit to Silver City, starting with a match in 1992. MSU was 0-8 as the visitor in the series. In 2024, Midwestern State had a 2-1 lead over WNMU at Drag's Court but lost in five sets. The Mustangs are 9-15 in the all-time series.
The MSU Mustangs wrap up the road trip at Sul Ross State on Saturday. First serve at Gallego Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.
