The MSU volleyball team had an off and on relationship with victory over the weekend.
First, the Mustangs took a dominating position over Abilene Christian University on Thursday night on the home court of D. L. Ligon Coliseum.
With the win, MSU also claimed its season’s best winning streak, marking it up to a total of six match victories.
“We did phenomenal. I was real proud of the girls and how they adjusted to the new line-up,” MSU coach Venera Flores-Stafford said.
The Lone Star Conference win, 26-24, 25-17, 25-15, was a proud moment for the Mustangs.
Shelbi Stewart and Miranda Byrd had shining moments throughout the night when they combined for 23 kills and only committed five errors, leaving the team with a hard .258 team attack percentage.
ACU came close to a match point at one time in the first set, bringing the match to 24-22, but with consecutive kills by Stewart and Brandi Flores then a great put away by Byrd, the Mustangs gave it a hell no and laid them down, 26-24.
Kristian Aduddell helped in offense by having two hitting percentages of .325 and .303 in the final two sets, respectively, leaving her with 22 total assists.
Kimberly Jeffrey notched in 14 total assists, while Kiara Jordan made no surprise to the crowd with a game high of 25 digs.
Flores and Aduddell both had 11 digs and Hillary White finished with 10 to go with her eight kills.
The following Saturday afternoon, MSU remained at D.L. Ligon to take on no. 18 Angelo State.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs lost to the Rambelles, 25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22, putting an end to the Mustangs winning streak.
A contributing factor to the loss might have been MSU playing without two of their starters, Caitlin Wallace and Kimberly Jeffrey.
“I think that was a more difficult transition for the team,” Flores-Stafford said. “We were just quite discombobulated for the first two sets.”
Jordan’s 30 digs allowed MSU to push the Rambelles into 27 attack errors and a .165 team attack percentage.
White claimed a team high of 12 kills, while also contributing 15 digs, adding up to her sixth double-double of the season.
Both teams were neck-in-neck during the fourth set, 18-18, but ASU climbed back to the top with a 25-18 score, ending the set.
Byrd ended the game with a total of 11 kills while Flores claimed a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Aduddell made her season high of 44 assists.
“Overall I thought they did a very good job making the adjustments and keeping each other uplifted,” Flores Stafford added.
Next, MSU goes on the road, facing two important LSC matches, Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, then Texas Woman’s University on Saturday.