WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State opens a three-match homestand on Friday night as St. Edward's visits D.L. Ligon Coliseum. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. St. Mary's will be in town to face the Mustangs on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Midwestern State (6-6, 2-0) has a three-match winning streak and won four of its last five matches. The Mustangs won their only previous match under the dome, defeating Bethel College in straight sets on Sept. 8.

Midwestern State opened conference play last week with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 27-25) win at Western New Mexico as Jaiden Wright hit .600 with 11 kills on 15 swings, and the team hit .266 while holding WNMU to a hitting percentage of .174.

On the second leg of its road trip, Midwestern State defeated Sul Ross State, 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 26-24). Wright finished with 15 kills and Isabella Dickens had 11. 

The Mustangs are averaging 13.2 kills per set, third-most in the conference behind No. 6-ranked Angelo State and Dallas Baptist, which is receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25.

Dickens is 11th in the conference with 3.1 kills per set, and she is 10th in the league with 136 total kills for the Mustangs, who are hitting .217 as a team.  Wright leads the team and is seventh in the Lone Star Conference with a hitting percentage of .323, and Dickens is hitting .317, which is ninth among the league leaders.

Dickens leads the team with 155 points and 3.5 points per set, while Wright has 120 total points and is averaging 2.7 points per set. Remi Madison is third on the team with 116 points, averaging 2.8 points per set. Madison leads the team in attacks with 329.

Midwestern State is fifth in the LSC with 12 assists per set. Macy Scheer is sixth in the league with 7.1 assists per set, and Maxime Pheasant is 14th in the conference with 4.9 assists per set.

The Mustangs are eighth in the conference with 15.2 digs per set, and Jenna Redding leads the team with 3.8 digs per set, which is seventh-most in the LSC. Opponents are hitting .238 against the Stangs, who average just over one block per set. Wright and Dickens each have 22 blocks this season and are averaging 0.5 blocks per set. 

ST. EDWARD'S (6-6, 1-1)

St. Edward's leads the all-time series with Midwestern State, 13-9, including a five-set win over the Mustangs at the Mountain Lion Classic in Colorado Springs earlier this month. The Hilltoppers are 4-5 all-time when visiting MSU and lost their last visit two years ago 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21). Midwestern State won its match at St. Edwards last season 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18).

Midwestern State hit .324 in the first two sets of a non-conference clash with the Hilltoppers on Sept. 4. The Mustangs won the first set, 25-20, but the Hilltoppers pulled even with a 27-25 victory in the second set. MSU had 10 attack errors in the third set, while St. Edward's had just two and won the set 25-16. The Mustangs rallied to win the fourth set 25-20, hitting .220 while the Hilltoppers hit .049. St. Edward's never trailed in the fifth set, as MSU finished the frame with just five kills and six errors on 21 attacks.

The Hilltoppers are 3-3 since their win over the Mustangs and split their first two conference matches at the Recreation and Athletics Center last week. 

St. Edward's served up 11 aces and held UT Permian Basin to a .138 hitting percentage in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-19) victory. Kelli Fording had 14 kills and hit .406, while Grace McDonald finished with 11 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Althea Morris had 38 assists in the conference opener.

St. Edward's stayed with nationally ranked Angelo State early in the match but lost 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-9, 25-18). Mia Clay led the Hilltoppers with 13 kills, Fording had 12 and Kaylen Lembcke had eight kills. Morris had 30 assists and 11 digs. Bella Briceno had 12 digs for St. Edward's.

Morris is 15th in the nation and leads the conference with 10.2 assists per set. The junior from Los Angeles had 45 assists against the Mustangs in their first meeting.

Fording is fifth in the conference with 3.7 kills per set, and she is sixth in the conference with 3.8 points per set.  The senior outside hitter from San Antonio leads the team with 366 attacks, which is 12th-most in the LSC, and she is hitting .236 for the Hilltoppers, who are hitting .189 as a unit.

Against Midwestern State earlier this month, Fording hit .294 and had 14 kills on 24 swings.

Clay is 17th in the league with 2.7 kills per set and is hitting .130 with 87 total kills on 261 swings for St. Edward's, which is fourth in the LSC with 13.2 kills per set. Clay had 21 kills and hit .255 against the Mustangs three weeks ago.

Giselle Ojeda has the fourth-most digs in the LSC with 200 in 47 sets for the Hilltoppers, averaging 4.3 digs per set, which is sixth-best in the conference. Ojeda had a match-high 21 digs in the win over MSU earlier this season.  

St. Edward's is averaging 1.15 blocks per set, led by McDonald, who has 27 total blocks and is averaging 0.6 blocks per set. The sophomore from Plano, Texas, had one block in the earlier meeting with Midwestern State.

ST. MARY'S (8-4, 1-1) 

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with St. Mary's 11-10, but the Mustangs have six of the last seven meetings, including a 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-13) loss at Bill Greehey Arena last year. The Rattler are making just their fourth visit to D.L. Ligon Coliseum, where they lost in straight sets (25-14, 25-19, 25-23) in 2024 and fell to 1-2 all-time as the visitor in the series.

St. Mary's plays at Lubbock Christian on Friday night before facing the Mustangs at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The Rattlers won their first two road matches of the season, taking a five-setter from Rollins on Aug. 29 and defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville in a five-set match at the Javelina Classic on Sept. 5.

St. Mary's had a four-match winning streak snapped with a 3-2 (25-22, 33-31, 15-25, 22-25, 12-15) loss to sixth-ranked Angelo State at Bill Greehey Arena last week in the conference opener. The fifth set saw 12 ties and four lead changes, but the Rambelles took the final three points to win the match. The Rattlers fell to 3-4 in five-set matches this season. 

Laurene Robinson led the match with 26 kills, hitting .489 on 47 swing. Sophomore Tara Creekmore and Taylor Alston also reached double figures in kills with 13 and 11, respectively.

Junior libero Kaylee Cavazos recorded a career-high five service aces and led the team with 18 digs.

Senior setter Haleigh Wilk posted her fourth double-double of the season with 47 assists and 10 digs, and she chipped in five kills. It was the 14th double-double of her career.

Both middle blockers, senior Olivia Rubio and freshman Madyson Carr, tied for match-high honors with five blocks, as the Rattlers out-blocked the Rambelles 10-7.

The following day, St. Mary's handled UT Permian Basin in four sets, winning 3-1 (25-23, 25-11, 19-25, 25-13). Robinson had 15 kills on 40 swings and hit .325 for the Rattlers.  Robinson also had two of the 10 service aces for St. Mary's. 

Haleigh Wilk posted her fifth double-double with 38 assists and 17 of the 66 digs for the Rattlers. Cavazos had 25 digs and eight assists in the victory.

Wilk is second in the LSC with 9.0 assists per set, and Robinson is second in the league with a hitting percentage of .359.

St. Mary's boasts the third-highest hitting percentage in the conference at .240. Opponents are hitting .182 against the Rattlers, who have a league-leading 107 service aces but are fourth in the LSC with 2.0 aces per set. 

Alston is fourth in the LSC with 20 aces. Cavazos is seventh in the conference with 19 aces, and Wilk is 12th in the league with 16 aces for the Rambelles. 

Robinson leads the conference and is ninth in the nation with 4.8 points per set. The outside hitter from Bedford, Texas, is fifth in the league with 9.7 attacks per set, and Alston is 18th in the LSC with 8.0 attacks per set. Alston, a junior from San Antonio, is averaging 3.2 points per set, which is 18th in the conference.

Cavazos leads the team and is 11th in the LSC with 3.7 digs per set, while Madison Carr and Olivia Rubio lead the team in blocks. Carr is averaging 0.83 blocks (16th in the LSC), and Rubio averages 0.75 blocks (20th in the LSC) for the Rattlers, who are 11th in the league with 1.66 blocks per set.

Cavazos is the digs leader for the Rattlers and is 11th in the conference with 3.7 digs per set.  St. Mary's is 17th in the conference with 13.1 digs per set.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State wraps up the homestand on Sept. 29 with West Texas A&M visiting the Mustangs, and the first 250 fans will receive a free MSU Lanyard sponsored by Pepsi. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.