GUNNISON, Colo. The Mountaineers on Saturday evening gave interim head volleyball coach Maggie Billingsley her first career victory as Western Colorado downed Westminster (Utah) College, 3-1, in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match at Paul Wright Gym.

Officially named the interim coach on Friday, the win for Billingsley and the Mountaineers exacts some payback for a shutout loss to the Griffins in Salt Lake City on September 30. The win also ends a 12-match losing streak.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. Westminster, 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-23)
Records: Western 3-18 (2-12 RMAC), Westminster 5-17 (3-11)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers took a 2-0 lead – their first such cushion of the season – into the third set and led 18-15 in that set before Westminster used an 8-0 run to rally and eventually avoid a sweep.
• Western seized momentum out of the gate in the fourth set, breaking out to a 4-0 lead, and then to a 6-1 advantage. The Griffins, however, battled back to square the set at 8-8, a point in the set from which the difference on the scoreboard was not more than two points until late.
• The Mountaineers scored four unanswered points after trailing 18-16 to vault into the lead. Westminster matched that run to inch back ahead, 22-20.
• Olive Rolseth started off what would be a back-breaking run for Western on the next point, knocking down what would be her eighth and final kill of the night.
• A pair of service aces by Lexi Wilmoth tied the scored then pushed the Mountaineers in front, 23-22, followed by the 18th and final kill of the night by Jordyn Todd.
• The Griffins pulled back within one on a block of a Todd attack, but on the next point a cross-court attack by Westminster's Mailei Myers sailed wide of the court for Western's gleeful match point.
• The Mountaineers never trailed in the opening set, pushing their lead to as many as nine (twice) before taking the eight-point set win. They trailed in the second set until a 5-0 run midway through to bounce back from an 8-7 deficit. Playing from in front, Western built a five-point cushion twice before finishing off the set on a Todd kill, a Caroline Parker kill, and a set-ending block by Rolseth and Todd.

DATA POINTS

• Todd's 18 kills were a season high and match-high for the senior. She also added one solo block and three block assists for a total of 20.5 points on the night.
• Emily Mangone finished with 11 kills, trailing only Todd, and added a service ace for 12.0 points.
• Wilmoth's 31 set assists are a career high for the sophomore. She added three service aces and finished with seven digs.
• Mangone had 20 digs in the win, both match and season highs for the senior.
• Another senior, Elizabeth Rupprecht, came up with nine digs and was nearly perfect on serve receive, registering just one error in 29 receptions. Mangone was perfect on the night going 25-for-25 on service receptions.
• The Mountaineers posted attack percentages of .242 and .244 in winning the first two sets. That figure dropped to .156 in the third set, but rose up to .237 in the deciding fourth. For the night Western had a .222 hitting percentage.
• Westminster made a killing at the net defensively, posting 13.0 blocks in defeat, while Western registered 5.0 in its win.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers head to Denver for their next two matches on Friday and Saturday, taking on second-ranked Metropolitan State University of Denver on October 28 and then Colorado Christian University the following night.