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Life > Athletics > Volleyball > 10/24/06
PIONEERS RALLY TO BEAT MSU IN FIVE GAMES
DENTON, Texas (Oct. 24) – Down two games to one and staring a costly conference defeat right in the face, the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers rallied to defeat the Midwestern State University Mustangs in five games, 30-24, 26-30, 28-30, 30-24, and 15-12.
The victory was critical for the Pioneers, as TWU improved to 6-5 in conference play (21-11 overall) and moved into sole possession of third place in the North Division of the Lone Star Conference. The top three teams in each division (North and South) of the conference will qualify for the LSC postseason tournament to be held during the first weekend of November. With just one more conference match on their schedule this season (Saturday, Oct. 28 vs. SWOSU), TWU is now a game ahead of fourth place Southeastern Oklahoma and two games ahead of fifth place Midwestern State.
A balanced team effort was the key for the Pioneers on Tuesday night. Five players—Kandis Schroeder (11), Krystle Everett (18), Sharon Schaffner (10), Robin Hawkins (21), and Nicole Everett (11)—totaled double-digit kills in the win for TWU. Krystle Everett and Heather Marcus led the way defensively for the Pioneers with 27 and 26 digs respectively.
Playing in front of a boisterous crowd on hand for Maroon Out night, the Pioneers jumped on MSU early. Krystle Everett hammered home six kills to lead TWU to the win in game one.
After prevailing in the first game, TWU saw games two and three go the Mustangs way. Pioneers head coach Shelly Barberee said her team got a little tight.
“No question about it, after we won that first game, we tensed up. We didn’t carry over our intensity from game one into the second and third games. That allowed Midwestern State to get back into it,” stated Barberee.
Kandis Schroeder and Krystle Everett then had five kills apiece in game four to help the Pioneers force a decisive fifth game.
TWU fell behind early in game five, and they were quickly on the wrong end of a 9-6 deficit. The Pioneers would rally, clawing back to tie the score at ten. Then, MSU became their own worst enemy. Three consecutive attack errors by the Mustangs gave TWU a 14-11 lead. On their second match point, the Pioneers prevailed, ending the contest 15-12 on a kill by Nicole Everett.
“My kids fought tonight,” said Barberee. “We knew if we wanted to qualify for the postseason tournament, this was a match we had to have. The entire team stepped up, and pulled through for each other, for the university and for me. This was a wonderful win.”
The Pioneers will next be in action on Thursday, October 26 when they travel to Tyler to take on UT-Tyler at 7:00 p.m. Then, on Saturday, October 28, TWU will play their final regular season home game at 2:00 p.m. in Kitty Magee Arena against Southwestern Oklahoma.
For more information, please contact the TWU Sports Information office at (940) 898-2373.
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