Women's Volleyball

Miranda Byrd led five players in double digit kills with 12 to help the Midwestern State Mustangs defeat the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions, 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, in the regular season finale on Saturday night at the A&M-Commerce Field House.

“With seven players, and one of those playing completely out of position, I could not ask for more,” said Lions head volleyball coach Mark Pryor. “I was less concerned with the score than I was with our overall level of play, and I was pleased with how the girls responded to the adversity they experienced this week.

A&M-Commerce, which drops to 15-11 overall and 7-6 in Lone Star Conference action, played both games with week with only seven players. The Mustangs finish at 25-8 and 9-4. Both teams will continue their season in the LSC Tournament next week at West Texas A&M.

After falling by a combined 17 points after the first two sets, A&M-Commerce responded and closed the gap after the third. The Lions opened the set with five straight points, and stayed ahead until an 8-1 spurt from the Mustangs tied the game at 17. The set remained close until Alyssa Oberle broke a 23-23 tie with a kill, and Amy Addison and Terra Ousley rejected an attack from MSU to take the set.

Midwestern State answered in the fourth and halted any comeback attempt from the Lions as the team closed on a 10-4 run to ice the match.

Oberle paced the Lions with a game-high 15 kills. Morgan Ballard and Addison followed with 12 apiece, Perla Faudoa collected 40 assists and Lauren Flynn tallied 24 digs.

Byrd totaled 12 digs for Midwestern State, and Jessica Ransom, Alysha Pritt and Whitney Maxwell chipped in 11 to lead the Mustangs. Sesley Graves added 10.

The Lions head to Canyon, Texas next week to play in the LSC Tournament for the first time since 2002.