SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University volleyball team stretched their winning streak to three after a hard-fought 3-1 victory over CSU-Pueblo (25-20,26-28,25-22,25-23) Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Drag's Court.


In the opening set, CSU-Pueblo (CSU-P) jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. Western New Mexico University (WNMU) responded to take the lead back at 10-7 on a service ace from Shelley Wermuth (San Diego, CA/Mt. Carmel) which capped a 7-0 run. WNMU (7-9, 4-2 RMAC) pushed the lead to six, 15-9, on a kill from Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School). The Lady Mustangs never let CSU-P (11-5, 2-4 RMAC) back into the set, pushing to set point at 24-18 before finally putting the set away at 25-20 on a kill by Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School).


Similar to the second set, the ThunderWolves jumped out early, this time to a 6-3 advantage. CSU-P kept the pressure on, taking a six point lead at 12-6. The Lady Mustangs responded, coming back to take a 16-14 lead on a kill by Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy). This would turn out to be a back-and-forth set from this point on, with the teams trading leads and ties. CSU-P came back to knot the set at 17 and again at 23 after WNMU held a 23-20 lead. After three more ties, with the score at 26-all, the ThunderWolves posted a kill and then a solo block to take the set, 28-26 and tie the match at one.


In the third set, the ThunderWolves again dictated the early pace racing out to a 9-5 lead forcing a Lady Mustang timeout. WNMU responded out of the break, ripping off a 5-0 run to take the lead with Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) tallying a service ace for the 10-9 lead and forcing CSU-P into a timeout. After Destiney Mebane (Upland, CA/Etiwanda High School) pounded a kill for a 11-10 WNMU lead, she went on a service tear, posting three aces and on one of her other serves, Pulu tallied a kill for a 15-10 lead. CSU-P would get back to within two, 22-20, when Mebane and Pulu posted kills around an error for a 24-21 lead. Following a ThunderWolves kill, Rux recorded another kill to end the set, just like she did in the first for the 25-22 win and 2-1 match lead.


The fourth set again was tight like the other three. With the set tied at 17, Seluia Falealili came through with a big kill and after a CSU-P error, WNMU held a 19-17 advantage. They would later stretch the lead to three, 21-18, on a quick-attack kill from Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) forcing a ThunderWolves timeout. WNMU would keep their lead down the stretch, even though CSU-P made several runs. Just a point away at 24-23, Verhulsdonk came through with a big kill around a block attempt to win the set, 25-23, and the match for the Lady Mustangs.


WNMU posted above a .300 hitting percentage in the first three sets with the highest being a .385 effort in the opening set when the team tallied 19 kills to just four errors in 39 total attempts.


Pulu once again had another stellar night, recording 22 kills to just four errors for a .351 hitting percentage. She also added an assist and 16 digs, good for second on the team. Verhulsdonk was also in double-digit kills with 14, to go along with three digs and three block-assists. Rux was close to double-digit kills with nine, while leading the team in blocks with four block-assists. Meihack again set the table for the Lady Mustangs with 56 assists, while Kassie Kagawa (Hilo, HI/Waiakea High School) led in digs with 17.


WNMU will now get set to hit the road for their next three conference games beginning this Thursday at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs with gametime set for 7 p.m.

 
  Western New Mexico def. CSU-Pueblo 25-20,26-28,25-22,25-23
 
  CSU-Pueblo (11-5, 2-4 RMAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Alex Winkler 16-2-4;
  Brianna Bryant 15-0-5; Morgan Wilkening 9-2-1; Marissa Calvillo 7-0-1;
  Sierra Moran 6-0-1; Kacy Griffin 3-0-4; Skylar Conner 1-0-1; Alex
  Sansavera 0-1-0; Michelle Lambayan 0-1-0; Totals 57-6-9.0. (Assists) -
  Kacy Griffin 44. (Dig leaders) - Michelle Lambayan 14; Alex Sansavera
  12; Morgan Wilkening 10
 
  Western New Mexico (7-9, 4-2 RMAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School)
  22-0-0; Ziona Verhulsdonk (Kailua, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) 14-0-3; Heather Rux (Cottonwood, AZ/Mingus Union High School) 9-0-4; Seluia Falealili
  7-0-1; Destiney Mebane (Upland, CA/Etiwanda High School) 6-4-1; Shelley Wermuth (San Diego, CA/Mt. Carmel) 5-2-2; Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School)
  5-0-2; Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) 0-1-0; Kassie Kagawa (Hilo, HI/Waiakea High School) 0-2-0; Totals 68-9-7.0.
  (Assists) - Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) 56. (Dig leaders) - Kassie Kagawa (Hilo, HI/Waiakea High School) 17;
  Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) 16; Destiney Mebane (Upland, CA/Etiwanda High School) 10; Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) 8
 
  Site: Silver City, NM (Drag's Court)
  Date: Sep 29, 2012   Attend: 355   Time: 1:50