GUNNISON, Colo. – After a tough first set, the Western New Mexico volleyball team cruised to a straight set victory over Western State Friday night at Paul Wright Gym.
The Mustangs (7-5, 3-1 RMAC) took the first set 25-23 and after a pretty tight second set victory, 25-21, they cruised to a 25-13 win in the final set to take the conference victory.
In the first set, following a tie at 21, WNMU broke the tie with a kill by
Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School). Pulu would end up recording the next point also via a kill for a 23-21 lead. She kept up the momentum, pounding another kill off an assist by Alyssa Melhack to put the Mustangs one-point away from the opening set victory. At one point, Pulu scored four straight points on kills.
Western State (3-9, 0-4 RMAC) would rally for a pair of points before Pulu ended the first set on another kill for the 25-23 win.
The second set opened with the teams tied at three before the Mustangs exploded for the next nine points. During the run, the Mustangs benefited from several Mountaineer errors, along with kills by
Jordan Johnston (Boise, ID/Centennial High School) and Pulu to open the nine-point gap. Two of the attack errors by WSC during the run resulted in blocks by
Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) and Johnston, as they both combined for two blocks.
WSC wouldn't go away, as they came back to within three, 21-18, before a kill by Johnston and
Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) opened up a five-point lead. The Mountaineers would post the next two points before an attack error and a kill by Rux ended the set with a 25-21 victory for the Mustangs and a 2-0 lead.
The third set opened with a four-all tie and after WNMU expanded the lead to 7-5, they would reel off the next five points for a 12-5 advantage. Around three attack errors, Rux posted a kill and Pulu an ace to swing the momentum.
The gap would remain at least at seven the rest of the way, as a 14-7 lead would be as close as the Mountaineers would get the rest of the way. WNMU posted the last four points of the set, with Melhack recording three kills and Rux won to give the Mustangs the straight set sweep.
Pulu posted 13 kills on the night, while Rux added 11. Melhack added 29 assists and a trio of Mustangs, Melhack (15), Marilee Forst (15) and Pulu (12) recorded double-digit digs.
The Mustangs improved their kill percentage by each set, as they started off at below 100 (.095), and after a .154 effort in the second set, ripped off a .306 percentage in the final set.
WNMU will have a quick turnaround as they will play at CSU-Pueblo on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.
Western New Mexico def. Western State 25-23,25-21,25-13
Western New Mexico (7-5 (3-1 RMAC)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Angelina
Pulu 13-2-0;
Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) 11-0-0;
Jordan Johnston (Boise, ID/Centennial High School) 8-0-3; Ziona
Verhulsdonk 4-0-4; Alyssa Melhack 4-0-0;
Malayzha Dinkins (Corona, CA/Santiago High School) 1-0-0;
Totals 41-4-4.0. (Assists) - Alyssa Melhack 29. (Dig leaders) -
Marilee Frost (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) 15; Alyssa Melhack 15;
Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) 12
Western State (3-9 (0-4 RMAC)) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kallee Cool
8-0-2; Josie Hopkins 7-0-1; Stephanie Schlis 6-3-2; Molly Dolson
3-1-1; Sara Larson 3-0-3; Kelsie Dardis 2-0-4; Emily Draper 0-2-0;
Totals 29-6-7.0. (Assists) - Molly Dolson 25. (Dig leaders) - Kyona
Hunt 20; Emily Draper 9; Molly Dolson 8
Site: Gunnison, Colo. (Paul Wright Gym)
Date: Sep 23, 2011 Attend: 174 Time: 1:19
Referees: Tony Clark, Joel Korver
