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Life > Athletics > Volleyball > 9/13/07
PIONEERS FALL TO MSU IN LONE STAR CONFERENCE OPENER
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (September 13) –The Texas Woman's University Pioneers volleyball team opened Lone Star Conference play on Thursday night with a road loss against the Midwestern State University Mustangs, 30-24, 21-30, 30-7, 30-20.
MSU was paced offensively by senior middle blocker Krissa Johnson's 15 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Ransom chipped in with 12 kills and sophomore middle blocker Sesly Graves added 10 kills. Junior setter Allison Schreiber efficiently directed the Mustangs efforts with a match-high 48 assists.
The Pioneers struggled the entire night to generate any momentum, due primarily to an inconsistent offensive attack. TWU managed just a .084 attack percentage for the match (compared to a .256 attack percentage for the Mustangs). The Pioneers also committed an uncharacteristic 13 ball-handling errors, a stat that contributed mightily to the loss according to TWU head coach Shelly Barberee.
"That (the ball-handling errors) was the biggest thing that hurt us tonight. We played hard, and we played intense, but, whenever we would start to string a few points together we'd make another error and then we would hang our heads. Against a team as talented as Midwestern, you just can't make the mistakes we made and have a shot at winning the match," said Barberee.
Junior outside hitter Katie King had an effective performance in defeat for TWU. King pounded down a match-high 19 kills and recorded a TWU team-best .447 attack percentage. Junior right side hitter Sharon Schaffner led TWU at the net with five block assists and freshman middle blocker LyGene' Traylor did her part with four block assists.
The win by Midwestern State was their eleventh in a row and improved their overall season record to 13-2. The defeat dropped the Pioneers season record to 6-7. Despite the loss, TWU still holds the head-to-head edge in their twenty-year old series with the Mustangs. TWU has 17 of the 29 meetings between the Pioneers and Mustangs since the schools first met in 1987.
The Pioneers will continue conference play this Saturday, September 15, when they travel to Lawton, Oklahoma to play Cameron University in a 2:00 p.m. match. |
