After picking up their first Lone Star Conference victory on Sept. 22 against Texas A&M-Kingsville, the Midwestern State Lady Mustangs volleyball team had a run of bad luck.
The ladies dropped their last three games to No. 5 West Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas Woman’s University.
The Lady Mustangs now stand at 3-12 for the season and 1-6 in the Lonestar Conference.
Head Volleyball coach Venera Flores-Stafford was impressed with the effort her team put together.
“The Kingsville match felt good,” she said. “At that point we had only had our full line up for the second time so we are still trying to find our chemistry.”
On Sept. 28, the Lady Mustangs traveled to Canyon and were swept by West Texas A&M in three straight sets, 25-20, 25-18, 25-16.
The Lady Mustangs struggled against West Texas A&M’s front lines, as the Lady Buffs picked up eight blocks, and MSU had 30 kills to 21 attack errors.
Shelbi Stewart led the Lady Mustangs with eight kills, along with Beatriz Villalba’s five kills, two aces and one block. Villabla led the Mustangs on a big 7-0 run in the second set that gave the Lady Mustangs a 13-6 lead over the Lady Buffs, but a 19-5 run sealed the set for West Texas A&M and any chance of an MSU comeback.
Courtney Haney led the Lady Mustangs in assists with 14, and Casey Fletcher led digs with nine.
Sept. 28 saw the Lady Mustangs return home to take on the Texas A&M-Commerce Lady Lions. The Lady Mustangs started off hot with a 25-16 victory, but were unable to transfer that to a match victory as the Lady Lions went on to win the following three sets 26-24, 25-22, 25-16.
Stewart again led the Lady Mustangs with 14 kills, five of which came in the first set. The Lady Mustangs hammered in 13 kills in the first set and forced 10 errors from the Lady Lions. The second set began in similar fashion for the Lady Mustangs, but after failing to secure a set point, the Lady Lions were able to make a last minute three-point run to secure the 26-24 set win that turned the tides of the match.
Haney aided the Lady Mustangs efforts against the Lady Lions with 10 kills and one ace. Kristan Aduddell notched 29 assists and Fletcher got 15 digs.
“The girls at one point or another have impressed me,” said Flores-Stafford. “We have a good group and I look forward to seeing how they will step up to the challenge.”
The Lady Mustangs latest defeat came at the hands of Texas Woman’s University on Saturday during MSU’s Family Day. The Lady Mustangs were again swept in three straight sets, 25-19, 25-19, 25-11.
The Lady Mustangs were outpowered by the duo of Josie Santos & Viktorija Jablonska, who led the Lady Pioneers to victory with 12 kills, 11 digs and 10 set-assists respectively.
The Lady Mustangs were led by Caitlin Wallace with eight kills and three blocks, Courtney Haney and Kristan Aduddell with 12 assists each and Shelbi Stewart with 11 digs.
Flores-Stafford said she believes the team needs confidence to tackle upcoming matches.
“I feel we still have the chance to make a strong push at the end if we can gain some confidence,” she said.
The Lady Mustangs will look to improve their record as they take on Abilene Christian University and Texas-Permian Basin on Oct. 5.