Lady Mustangs Host Lions, Pioneers for Senior Weekend

SILVER CITY, N.M. – Down to the final four matches of the regular season, the Western New Mexico University volleyball team hosts Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas Woman's this weekend, with senior day taking place Saturday.

WNMU, currently 8-16 overall and 8-8 in the Lone Star Conference, are tied with Eastern New Mexico and Texas Woman's for sixth in the conference standings. Midwestern State in ninth is two matches back at 6-10. The top eight teams make the conference tournament that will start Nov. 16 at the top seed which is right now occupied by Tarleton State at 14-2. Texas A&M-Commerce is second at 12-4.

The Lady Mustangs will look to continue their winning ways at home as they are 6-2 inside Drag's Court, with four of those wins being 3-0 sweeps. They gave the Lions are run earlier this season, falling 3-1 at Commerce on Oct. 7.

Texas A&M-Commerce is on a three-match winning streak defeating Texas Woman's, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Cameron this past Tuesday. They are 6-5 away from home in true road contests and lost their previous two road matches at Angelo State and Tarleton State.

Texas Woman's has won two-in-a-row against Arkansas-Monticello and Midwestern State. They have lost their past four matches on the road, with their last road win coming on Oct. 13 at UT Permian Basin. They are 4-7 away from home in true road contests.

WNMU will face Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday at 6 p.m. and then Texas Woman's on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Saturday's match will also be senior day for the six Lady Mustang seniors.

Information on all the seniors and their careers can be found below:

Aspen Luna (Rota, Spain/Farragut):
WNMU (2017): Luna has made a strong return back to the lineup this year as she has 89 kills, averaging 1.41 per set, along with three assists, three service aces, 60 digs and 20 blocks. She has a high in kills with nine coming against both Colorado Mines and Malone. She posted seven digs versus Colorado Mines and had four blocks against UT Permian Basin. Luna has played in 63 sets, starting in nine matches and playing in 24 total.
WNMU (2016): Missed the season due to injury.
WNMU (2015): Luna played in four matches, starting one and logging 11 total sets in her first season with the Lady Mustangs. She tallied nine kills, an assist, a service ace, 16 digs and a block. Luna tied her season-high in kills with four and posted her most digs with nine in her start against Angelo State. She also had a four-kill performance against Newman.
UAM: During her freshman season at Arkansas at Monticello she played in 98 sets and 30 total matches, starting ten. She recorded 104 kills, 13 assists, 18 service aces, 201 digs and 15 total blocks. She tallied a season-high eight kills twice against Central Baptist and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Luna had eight matches with double-digit digs coming away with a season-high 24 against Mississippi Valley.

Kelli McGhiey (Pearl City, HI/Sacred Hearts Academy):
WNMU (2017): McGhiey is third on the team in kills with 135, averaging 1.78 per set. She also has nine assists, a service ace, 54 digs and 40 blocks, third best on the team. McGhiey has had 10 or more kills three times this season with a high of 13 coming against Regis. She tallied 10 digs twice this year (Angelo State and UT Permian Basin), going for a double-double against Angelo State with 12 kills. She has five or more blocks in three matches this year with a high of six coming against Midwestern State. She has played in 76 sets, starting in 10 matches and playing in 24 total.
WNMU (2016): McGhiey played in 26 matches, starting 14 and tallying 74 sets. She ended up sixth on the team in kills with 141, along with 16 assists, eight service aces, 124 digs and 23 blocks. McGhiey had at least 10 kills in six matches, going for a high of 15 against Cameron. She posted two double-doubles against Cameron with 15 kills and 13 digs and against Texas Woman's with 10 kills and 11 digs. McGhiey collected a six-block effort versus Texas A&M-Commerce.
WNMU (2015): McGhiey suited up for 24 matches, starting 16 and playing 65 total sets. She compiled 126 kills, nine assists, six service aces, 80 digs and 21 blocks. Her season-high in kills of 13 came against Adams State, as she had double-digit kills twice during the season. Her top dig tally of eight was also against Adams State and later added a five block match against Fort Lewis. She was one of the top players in the conference in terms of academics, as she was named to the All-RMAC Academic First-Team.
WNMU (2014): McGhiey played in 32 sets and 17 total matches as a true freshman for the Lady Mustangs. She ended up with 52 kills, six assists, 26 digs, eight total blocks and two solo. She worked her way into the starting lineup later in the season starting five of the final six matches. In one of those matches against Fort Lewis she pounded out a season-high 14 kills.
High School: She played at Sacred Hearts Academy High School in Honolulu. The 6-foot outside hitter and middle blocker holds a 4.17 cumulative GPA, is on the Principal's List and won the Scholar Athlete Award in 2013. She won the teams Outstanding Spiker Award in 2012 and 2013 and has several club honors including Outstanding Middle Hitter in 2011, while the team made it to the AAU Nationals in 2011 and the Junior Nationals in 2012 and 2013.

Kalie Lyle (Phoenix, AZ/Sandra Day O' Connor):
WNMU (2017): Lyle leads the team with 254 kills, averaging 3.34 per set, which ranks third in the conference. She also has 14 assists, six service aces, 159 digs and 23 blocks. Lyle has gone for at least 10 kills in 10 matches with a high of 28 coming against Malone. Her 28 kills in a match is the highest in a single match this season in the conference. She has three double-doubles against Midwestern State (11 kills, 12 digs), Cameron (19 kills, 10 digs) and Texas Woman's (15 kills and 14 digs). She has played in 76 sets this season, starting in 22 matches and playing in 24 total.
WNMU (2016): Lyle played in all 32 matches as a junior, starting 28 and totaling 102 sets. She was fourth on the team in kills with 179, while adding 12 assists, 25 service aces (third on the team), 137 digs and 25 blocks to compile 216.5 points. Lyle recorded a high in kills with 15, just one off her career-high, against Tarleton State. She had 10 or more kills in four matches and had 12 digs twice against West Texas A&M and St. Edward's. Lyle had a pair of three block matches against CSU Dominguez Hills and Texas Woman's.
WNMU (2015): In her second season with the Lady Mustangs, Lyle saw action in 16 matches, starting four and playing in 32 sets. She compiled 62 kills, two assists, a service ace, 28 digs and three blocks. She posted a season and career-high 16 kills against CSU Dominguez Hills when she het .343 (16-4-35). She had a high in digs with six twice against Colorado Christian and Fort Lewis.
WNMU (2014): Lyle played in 20 matches and 40 sets as a true freshman. She tallied 53 kills, one assist, seven service aces, 75 digs and six total blocks. She posted a season and career-high 12 kills against UC-Colorado Springs and also added her career-high in digs in that same match with 17.
High School: Played at Sandra Day O'Connor High School. The 5-foot-7 outside hitter led her team to a 34-7 record in the Arizona High Division. The team placed third at state and she was named to the Second-Team All-State. She also added Nike All-Tournament Team honors. For the season Lyle compiled a .279 hitting percentage, 40.1 kill percentage, 242 kills in 98 sets for a 2.5 kills per set average and served at 86.8 percent.

Alanna Watt (Hague, Saskatchewan/Hague):
WNMU (2017): Watt is second on the team in kills with 173, averaging 2.44 per set. She also has seven assists, eight service aces, 114 digs and 27 blocks. She has tallied 10 or more kills six times this season going for a high of 17 against Cameron. She also has four matches with over 10 digs going for a high of 13 against West Alabama. Watt has three double-doubles this season against Cameron (17 kills, 10 digs), Angelo State (15 kills, 11 digs) and Midwestern State (11 kills, 12 digs). Watt has played in 71 sets, starting in 18 matches and playing in 22 total.
Previous School: Watt, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Hague, Saskatchewan, transfers in from Feather River in Quincy, Calif., where she played beach volleyball this past season in helping the team to 14 victories and finished fourth in the state. Watt took home CCCAA Individual State Championship honors as she and her teammate Kim Austin placed third in the North. During the 2015 campaign she played at the University of Tennessee Martin posting three kills, a service ace, two digs and a block in seven sets. Watt began her career at Williston State College in Williston, N.D., collecting All-Conference honors. She played in 35 matches and accumulated 330 kills, averaged 3.36 kills per set and totaled 242 digs. Some of her prep honors included Conexus All-Star Team 2012, Athlete of the Year 2010-2013, Dons Fehr Award 2011-2013, Bronze medal at Provincials in track 2012-2013 Quad, Silver medal at Provincials in track 2012-2013 4x100 and Gold medal at Provincials in track 2011 4x100.

Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow):
WNMU (2017): After missing the first two weeks of the season, Verrill has returned back to form this year with a team-best 81 blocks, 17 solo, along with a fourth-most 102 kills, along with two assists, four service aces and 25 digs. She averages 1.82 kills per set and 1.45 blocks per set. Verrill tallied a high in kills with 11 coming against Angelo State. She has four other matches with at least eight kills. She has at least five blocks in nine matches this year with a high of nine coming against Midwestern State. She just missed a double-double in that match with nine kills. Verrill has played in 56 sets, starting 16 matches and playing in 16 total.
WNMU (2016): Named to the Point Loma Seaside Invitational All-Tournament Team. It was another strong campaign for Verrill as she led the team in kills with 312, averaging 2.69 per set and hit .287. She finished third on the team in blocks with 100 and also added four assists, a service ace and 58 points, while leading the team in total points with 368.5. Considering that Verrill moved from middle blocker to right side and still put up impressive numbers speaks to the abilities of her game. She had 14 matches with double-digit kills, going for a high of 19 against Midwestern State. Verrill added at least a block in all but three matches, going for a high of eight (twice) against Texas A&M-International and West Texas A&M.
WNMU (2015): Verrill was near the top on the team in several categories during the 2015 season. She was second in blocks with 83, third in kills with 193, while also adding an assists, a service ace and 28 digs. She averaged 2.54 points per set, also third on the team. She went for 10 or more kills in eight matches with a high of 14 kills against UT Permian. She had a season-high five digs against Fort Lewis and a high in blocks with eight versus Colorado Mesa.
WNMU (2014): Verrill had a solid first season and freshman year with the Lady Mustangs as she was first on the team in blocks (102), second in kills (177) and also added four assists, a service ace and 23 digs. She tallied 10 or more digs in nine matches with a season and career-high 13 coming against Adams State. She posted a 10 block game against New Mexico Highlands and had 12 matches with at least five blocks. She played in 24 matches and in 92 sets.
High School: Played for Barstow High School. The 6-foot-3 middle collected several honors including All-League, Desert Sky League Outstanding Senior Athlete and was named MVP of the 2013-14 high school season. Verrill also plays for the Rancho Valley Volleyball Club. She was named to the honor roll and has a cumulative GPA of 3.1.

Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku):
WNMU (2017): Mataele has remained one of the top liberos in the conference posting 370 digs, averaging 4.40 per set, along with a kill, 74 assists and seven service aces. She ranks sixth in the conference in digs per set. Mataele has double-digit digs in 21 matches this year, going for over 20 seven times and has a high of 31 against UT Permian Basin. She recorded a double-double against Malone with 18 digs and 10 assists. Mataele has played in 84 sets, starting all 24 matches.
WNMU (2016): Mataele continued to be the defensive specialist for the Lady Mustangs as she led the team in digs with 540, averaging 4.66 per set. She played in all 32 matches and all 116 sets. Mataele also added a kill, 101 assists and 33 service aces (second on the team). She posted over 30 digs on three different occasions with a high of 34 coming against St. Edward's. She went for double-digit digs in all but four matches and had a double-double with 10 assists and 21 digs versus Minot State. Mataele took home Westminster All-Tournament accolades and capped the season by being named to the Lone Star Conference All-Tournament team after posting 16 digs against Tarleton State.
WNMU (2015): Mataele played in all 27 matches and all 101 sets in her first season with the Lady Mustangs. She tallied two kills, 67 assists, 14 service aces and led the team with 458 digs. She posted double-digit kills in 21 matches with a high of 28 digs against Newman. She had two service aces against both Cal State San Marcos and Colorado Mesa.
BYU-Hawaii (2014): She played in 27 matches, 83 sets where she came away with a team-high 342 digs. In addition she added two kills, 53 assists and a block. She had 17 matches with at least 10 digs going for a season-high 28 digs against Academy of Art.
High School: She played soccer and golf and was named honorable mention in soccer in 2011-12.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Kalie Lyle: OH; 5' 7"; Senior

#23 Ashley Mataele: DS; 5' 7"; Senior

#7 Kelli McGhiey: OH/MB; 6' 0"; Senior

#16 Heather Verrill: RS; 6' 3"; Senior

#2 Aspen Luna: OH; 5' 7"; Junior

#13 Alanna Watt: OH; 5' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Kalie Lyle
: 5' 7"; Senior
: OH

#23 Ashley Mataele
: 5' 7"; Senior
: DS

#7 Kelli McGhiey
: 6' 0"; Senior
: OH/MB

#16 Heather Verrill
: 6' 3"; Senior
: RS

#2 Aspen Luna
: 5' 7"; Junior
: OH

#13 Alanna Watt
: 5' 9"; Senior
: OH