SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Volleyball (15-14, 9-8 LSC) battled back from a 2-1 deficit in the First Round of the LSC Tournament to beat Western New Mexico in five sets (25-14, 14-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-11).
Casey Loewer produced a triple-double with
Kaycee Cavanaugh adding a double-double.
West Texas A&M opened the first set holding an early 4-1 advantage after back-to-back aces by
Casey Loewer. The Lady Buffs forced an early timeout by the Mustangs after
Kaycee Cavanaugh and
Parker Gladhill sent back an attack for the 5-1 lead. WT split open the set with a 9-3 run where a kill by
Skyler Massey forced another timeout at 14-4. During that run, the Lady Buffs defense came up big at the net by deterring shots off deflections to set up smooth offense. West Texas A&M held firm on their lead as they reached set point at 24-12 after another kill by Massey. The Lady Buffs would ultimately take set one following an attack error by Western New Mexico at 25-14.
The second set served as an inverse of set one where the Mustangs took the early advantage at 8-2 and built up their lead to 11-4 as WT called a timeout. WNMU continued to build up their lead from strong defense as their frontline slowed down the Lady Buff's attacking chances. Western New Mexico would lead 20-12 as a kill led to another timeout by West Texas A&M. WNMU would go on to win the second set at 25-14 to tie the match 1-1.
In the pivotal set three, WT would trail 4-1 early but worked their way back into the set as the score would be tied 7-7. The Lady Buffs were helped out by service errors from the Mustangs. A back-and-forth battle would commence as the teams traded points, but the Lady Buffs took their first lead of the set at 14-13 after an attack error by WNMU. The back-and-forth play continued until a 4-0 run by the Mustangs gave them a 20-16 lead. West Texas A&M stayed resilient as they responded to get within two points at 21-19 and then at 23-21. A kill by the Mustangs got them to set point, but the Lady Buffs held firm as a kill by
Kael Wilcox set the score at 24-23. Western New Mexico sent down a kill as they took the second set at 25-23 to lead 2-1.
Needing the set win to stay alive, WT opened on an 8-4 run after Cavanaugh put down back-to-back aces to cap off a 6-0 run. WNMU would respond as they took a 12-9 advantage following an 8-0 run. WT fought back from that deficit and would lead 19-17 after a block by Gladhill and
Tatum Busch. The Mustangs hung around as they worked back to tie the match at 21 all. The Lady Buffs took command with a 3-0 run after Cavanaugh sent down a kill and then recorded a block with
Anna Ruter to get to set point. WT was unable to capitalize on their set points as they had three straight errors as the match would be tied at 24. Loewer delivered a kill to get back to set point and Cavanaugh followed that with a big swing to send the match to the winner take all set five for the 26-24 set four win.
In the deciding fifth set, the teams interlocked for the first six points as they were tied at 3-3. WT created some separation with a 4-1 run where three different Lady Buffs sent down kills. Western New Mexico did not go away quietly with a 3-1 run to set the score at 9-8. West Texas A&M stayed composed and rattled off a 3-0 run with a kill by Cavanaugh along with a kill and ace by Loewer. WT continued to push the lead as Busch knocked down a kill to put the Lady Buffs at match point with the score at 14-10. WNMU tacked on a point before Gladhill made a big swing for game as West Texas A&M advanced in five sets with a 15-11 win.
Top Lady Buffs
- Casey Loewer recorded her second triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 25 assists, and 11 digs. She also added three aces and two blocks. Loewer is the first Lady Buff since Selena Batiste in 2018 to have multiple triple-doubles in a single season.
- Kaycee Cavanaugh tallied her 18th double-double of the season with 21 kills and 14 digs. Cavanaugh added two assists, aces, and blocks as well. She hit .349 in the match. Her 21 kills were her third most this season.
- Hannah Pemberton dug 26 balls while also dishing out nine assists at libero. This was Pemberton's third highest dig mark of the season.
Buffalo Bits
- West Texas A&M is now 23-3 all-time against Western New Mexico and have won 12 straight matches.
- WT led the match in digs (86-68) and hitting percentage (.234).
- Bromli Watson notched her second double-double of the season with 22 assists and 16 digs. Her 22 assists were a season-high.
- Parker Gladhill blocked four attacks and sent down seven kills (.250). This was her seventh game with 4+ blocks.
- Anna Ruter sent down 10 kills to go with three blocks and digs. This was Ruter's 15th game with 3+ blocks this season.
- Marin Brummund made nine digs in the match. This was her third game with 9+ digs this season.
- Kael Wilcox and Skyler Massey both had five kills and a block. Wilcox hit .286 with two digs.
- Tatum Busch recorded four kills and a block as she hit .250.
- Avery Ramos had three digs in the match.
Up Next
West Texas A&M returns to action tomorrow night as they take on No. 3 Angelo State in the Quarterfinals of the LSC Tournament. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
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