Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN ANTONIO, Tex. – The Western New Mexico University volleyball team opened the season with a split Friday in the Hilltopper/Rattler Classic as No. 8 Central Missouri took the first match of the season, 3-0, but the Lady Mustangs came back with an answering 3-0 win in the nightcap over host St. Mary's (TX).


In the first game of the season, the Lady Mustangs came close to pulling out the first and third sets, but Central Missouri pulled through to win 3-0. Trailing 6-2 in the opening set, WNMU came back to tie the set at seven with Francquee Acosta (El Paso, TX/Americas), Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA/Robert A. Millikan High School) and Bobbi Bayer (Granby, CO/Eddyville Blakesburg ) posting kills, while Pulu had a service ace and a Central Missouri ball handling error capped a 5-1 run.
The Jennies came back with a 6-0 run to open a 13-7 lead. Midway through the set, WNMU went on a 3-0 run to get back within two at 14-12 when Bayer recorded a kill and a pair of Central Missouri errors.


Central Missouri would keep the two-point spread over the rest of the first set as WNMU would get back at 23-21 on a kill by Chyler Imai (Kapaau, HI/Kohala) and then at 24-22 on a kill by Bayer before a kill gave the Jennies a 25-22 set win.


The Jennies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set and never looked back. A double-block by Lauren Buseman (Eagar, AZ/Round Valley) and Tee Kay Wallace closed the gap to three, 13-10 and after a service error again had the lead at three, 14-11, Central Missouri went on a 6-0 run on their way to a 25-15 second set win and a 2-0 match lead.


The Lady Mustangs started out strong in the third set tallying three straight points when Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV/Churchill County High School) posted a service ace, Pulu a kill and an attack error for the 3-0 lead.


Central Missouri would come back to tie the set a pair of times with the last coming at 10 when the Jennies would score the next two points and hold the lead the rest of the way. An attack error at 13-12 brought WNMU as close as they would get down the stretch when Central Missouri won 25-21 on their way to a 3-0 match victory.


Bayer led the team in kills with eight, followed by six each from Pulu and Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom). Meihack dished out 20 assists, Pulu led in digs with 13 and she also led in solo blocks with two, while Buseman and Wallace had three block assists.


In the second match, WNMU took control early on in each set on their way to a 3-0 victory over host St. Mary's. With Kassie Kagawa (Hilo, HI/Waiakea High School) serving in the opening frame, WNMU reeled off eight points after tying the set at four on a kill from Bayer. During the run Kagawa spun in two service aces, Bayer and Seluia "Ria" Falealili had kills and a double-block from Rich and Bayer to open a 12-4 advantage.


St. Mary's didn't go away, getting back to within one at 15-14 and one last time at 17-16 before Kaysee Pilgrim (Phoenix, AZ/Barry Goldwater) and Falealili had back-to-back kills to open a three-point spread, 19-16. Pulu later closed the set with a kill off a pass from Meihack for the 25-22 set win.


The second set featured a similar run to allow WNMU to open a lead. Trailing 3-1, Pulu launched a 4-0 run to put WNMU in front 5-3 as her kill was followed by an attack error and then a pair of kills from Pilgrim. The lead moved to four at 10-6 on a kill from Rich. It would reach six at 21-15 on a kill from Bayer forcing the Rattlers to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, St. Mary's made one last run going on a 4-0 run to get within two forcing WNMU into a timeout in which they would respond by taking four out of the next six points for the 25-21 victory and 2-0 match lead.


The third set was back-and-forth over the first 18 points, with the teams splitting the score at nine, having shared the lead six times. Acosta broke the tie with a kill which Kagawa added a kill and after a ball handling error on the Rattlers, WNMU had moved the lead to three, 12-9. The lead reached four at 14-10 on a kill by Rich. St. Mary's would get as close as three a couple of times, but that would be it with WNMU going on a 6-3 run down the stretch for the 25-18 set win and 3-0 match victory.


Bayer again led the team in kills with 12, followed by a pair of freshmen in Rich with 11 and Pilgrim with eight. Meihack posted 44 assists, while Kagawa led in digs with 19. Meihack was a close second with 15.


The Lady Mustangs will conclude the Hilltopper/Rattler Classic on Saturday as they will go up the road to Austin to play Merrimack at 12:00 p.m. and then host St. Edward's at 6:00 p.m. Both times are Mountain Standard.