Silver City, N.M—Western New Mexico returned to Drag's Court this afternoon to take on the Mustangs of MSU Texas. Western was riding high off a five-set thriller from the night before, whereas MSU Texas was hoping to bounce back after a three set sweep to Texas-Permian Basin.
 
Set one proved to be a good match between the two teams. Western New Mexico built a nice lead at 20-15 and would close out the set 25-21.
 
Set two was a different story, as the Mustangs of MSU Texas would be the ones to jump out into an early lead. Errors by Western New Mexico allowed their opponents to take the lead 10-4. MSU Texas would continue to build on their lead, until a late surge from the Mustangs in purple brought them back to tie the game at 16-16. MSU Texas would then pull ahead again, and end the set on a setter's kill to tie the match 1-1.
 
With the teams tied, set three would be a determining factor of how the rest of the match played out. Western New Mexico maintained the lead at 22-19, a three point run by MSU Texas would tie the set at 22. A kill by Bria Augustine (Bell Flower, CA/Mayfair High School) and back-to-back big blocks from Deyzha Samuelu (Garden Grove, CA/Edison High School) and Selai Damuni (Kula, HI/Tempview High School) closed out the set 25-22.
 
The final set was all the Mustangs in purple, as they sailed to a 25-13 win and an undefeated weekend at home.
 
The outside hitters remain the go-to for the Mustangs, as both Augustine and Damuni ended the match with 14 and 16 kills respectively. Madelynn Culp (Vancouver, WA/Union High School) finished the match with 29 assists, putting her average at 5.42 assists per set.
 
Western New Mexico led in almost all categories, earning 72.0 points, 58 kills, six aces, 56 assists and 54 digs as a team. The two teams tied for blocks at 8.  
 
Volleyball hits the road next week to take on Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M to continue conference play.