Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – After a dominating opening set, the Western New Mexico University volleyball team used that momentum in the following sets to sweep New Mexico Highlands University, 3-0, (25-13, 25-23, 25-23) Wednesday afternoon in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
The Lady Mustangs (8-12, 5-8 RMAC) broke open a close first set. With the score tied at nine, WNMU would go on a 9-0 run to open a 18-9 advantage. During the run,
Leeta Grap (Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy),
Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy ),
Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow ), and
Sheila Menezes (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Escola Estadual Prof. Antonio Ablas Filho) all recorded points. The Lady Mustangs tallied four blocks and three service aces during the stretch. The Lady Mustangs wouldn't look back cruising to the 25-13 opening set win with
Lauren Buseman (Eagar, AZ/Round Valley) closing the set with a kill from
Kylie Fraga (Kennewick, WA/Southridge).
WNMU started earlier in the second, moving ahead 10-6 with Menezes and Buseman tallying kills to expand the lead by four. NMHU (10-13, 5-8 RMAC) would fight back to tie the set at 16. The teams would trade small leads and ties over the next several points before Buseman and Verrill combined for a block to stretch the lead to 22-20. Ahead by one, Verrill gave WNMU the 25-23 set with a kill from
Melanie Hughes (Riverside, CA/Martin Luther King Jr.) after the Cowgirls had strung together two points to prolong the set.
The Lady Mustangs hit well over the first two sets, pounding 11 kills in the first with a .300 hitting percentage and then a .289 percentage and 14 kills in the second. The blocks also favored WNMU posting 11 blocks to one for NMHU.
In the third, WNMU would use a pair of runs to just hold off the Cowgirls like the second set. Early on, NMHU controlled the play leading 10-7. WNMU would go on a run to take a 13-11 lead with McGhiery tallying kills and an attack error by the Cowgirls. After NMHU made another run to get to within one at 21-20, McGhiey and Verrill combined for a block and a bad set made it 23-20. Menezes then closed the match herself, posting kills around points by the Cowgirls for the 25-23 set win and 3-0 match victory.
The Lady Mustangs ended up hitting .252 for the match with 37 kills to 10 errors in 107 chances. They limited NMHU to a .137 percentage with 40 kills to 24 errors in 117 chances. WNMU dominated the net with 13 blocks, while the Cowgirls had three.
Menezes and Verrill led the way with eight kills, while McGhiey added seven. Verrill hit .667 for the match with no errors in 12 chances. Menezes tallied a .333 with one errors in 21 chances. Fraga posted 14 assists, while Hughes added 13. Hughes led the way in digs with 12, followed by 11 from Grap and 10 from
Barbara Soranzo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil/Mestre Santa Barbara). Verrill tallied 10 blocks, with two coming solo.
Alicia Moreno led the Cowgirls with 11 kills.
WNMU will hit the road this coming Friday when they will play at Adams State in another big RMAC match at 7 p.m.
