Silver City N.M.—The Mustang volleyball team returned home to Drag's Court to take on the Aggies of Cameron last night, battling back from a 2-1 deficit to take the match in a five-set thriller.
The Mustangs were dominant in the first set going up 7-1 early on. Multiple Mustangs contributed kills throughout the first set, with
Delaney Seitz (Hillsboro, OR/Century High School) leading the way hitting a perfect 1.000.
Bria Augustine (Bell Flower, CA/Mayfair High School) added six kills of her own hitting .500. The first set was all Western New Mexico hitting .542 as a team, taking the first set with ease 25-10.
They would then carry that momentum into the second set, trading points until back-to-back-to-back kills gave the Mustangs a 7-4 lead. Unforced errors by the Aggies would increase the Mustang lead to 13-8. Augustine would go on a kill spree, with three kills to push the lead to 19-9. A 2-0 lead was in reach, but the Aggies block would bring them back to tie the game at 21-21. An attack error by the Aggies gave the Mustangs game point at 24-25, but they could not close out, as the Aggies would take the next three points to take the set 26-24.
The third set was back and forth the whole way, ultimately going in favor of the Aggies giving them a 2-1 set advantage. The Mustangs would have to battle back in the fourth to take it to a deciding set. Cameron hit.105 as a team, with the Mustangs hitting only slightly over at .114.
Set four was similar to set three with both teams only letting each other go up a couple points before coming back to even the score. Late in the set the Mustangs were 23-20 and two points away to tie up the match. Once again the Aggies fought back, evening the score at 23-23. Two Aggie attack errors would give the Mustangs the set 25-23.
The final, and deciding set was all Western New Mexico. The first three points went in favor of the Mustangs. The Aggies would come within one, at 5-4 before Western increased their lead to 10-5. The final three points of the match came on Mustang kills by redshirt freshman
Selai Damuni (Kula, HI/Tempview High School), and
Erin Moss (Kailua, HI/University Laboratory School) who secured the win on a powerful kill off the Aggie Block.
Selai Damuni (Kula, HI/Tempview High School) led the team with 20 kills, followed by
Bria Augustine (Bell Flower, CA/Mayfair High School) with 19.
Delaney Seitz (Hillsboro, OR/Century High School) had an impressive night, with 11 kills, two errors on 24 attempts, hitting .324. Junior libero,
Gabi Lau (Kailua, HI/University Laboratory School) got back to her defensive ways ending the match with a career high 29 digs.
The Mustangs improve to 5-6 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. They return to Drag's Court this afternoon at 4 p.m. (MT) to take on the Mustangs of MSU Texas.