WICHITA FALLS, Texas  A comeback victory opened the season for Western Colorado volleyball as the Mountaineers rallied from a five-point deficit in the fifth set to earn a 3-2 win over Eastern New Mexico University, but the seven-hour wait until their next match may have played a part in a 3-0 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State University on the opening day of the Midwestern State (University) Invitational.

JUST THE FACTS
Results: Western Colorado def. Eastern N.M., 3-2 (15-25, 25-17, 25-23, 29-25, 15-13); SW'n Oklahoma State def. Western Colorado, 3-0 (16-25, 8-25, 18-25)
Records: Western Colorado 1-1, Eastern N.M. 0-2, SW'n Oklahoma 2-0
Location: D.L. Ligon Coliseum, Wichita Falls, Texas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers—carrying a roster of 12 newcomers attempting to mesh with 3 returners and a new coach—got off to a sluggish start against ENMU in the first set of the season, dropping behind by five points early in the set and never really finding a rhythm.
• That changed quickly with the opening of the second set, with Western racing out to early leads of 7-0 and 11-1. They never trailed in winning the set to even the match, then erased a 1-0 deficit that started the third to hold the lead through to a set victory that put them up 2-1 on the Greyhounds.
• Facing defeat, ENMU took its efforts up a notch in the fourth, a set that saw seven tie scores before the Greyhounds established momentum late to earn the set win and force a deciding fifth.
• The momentum carried over to the start of the fifth as ENMU broke in front 5-0 before a Kennedy Kelly kill got Western on the scoreboard.
• Down by four, at 9-5, Western got a kill from Seyun Park that initiated an 8-0 run that turned the tide. Olive Rolseth followed with a pair of service aces, and Park continued the run with another kill. Rolseth found floor space again for another service ace, then the Mountaineers picked up two more points on ENMU attacking errors and another on a bad set that lifted Western in front, 13-9.
• The Greyhounds would eventually fight off three match points, but Maggie Olson pounded out a match-clinching kill off the set from Nur Turkmenoglu for the Mountaineer win.
• The Southwestern Okla. State match started well for Western—kills from Olson, Miya Alvarado and a Turkmenoglu service ace provided a quick 3-0 lead—but the Bulldogs would bounce back and battle the Mountaineers through five ties until breaking free from a 10-10 deadlock, out scoring Western 15-6 the rest of the way for the set win.
• The second set was all Bulldogs, however Western looked like it would rally in the third with another 3-0 set start. The momentum was lost, though, as the Bulldogs inched ahead for good out of a 4-4 tie and would go on to claim the match.

COURT NOTES

• Olson would finish the day with 18 kills to lead Western on the attack. Rolseth, whose four service aces led the team, trailed only Olson in accumulating 16 kills.
• Turkmenoglu was stellar in her Western Colorado debut, piling up 61 set assists and adding 2 kills.
• Defensively, Elizabeth Rupprecht did as expected, the defensive specialist leading the Mountaineer in digs with 33. Park, who had 13 kills for the attack, was strong at the net defensively as well, ringing up one solo block and four block assists.
• Western would conclude Saturday with a .122 attack percentage from 70 kills on 245 attempts.

UP NEXT

• The Mountaineers again get an early start at the Invitational on Day 2, once more opening the day's slate with an 8 a.m. MT match, this one against the University of West Alabama.
• The trip to Texas concludes with a 2 p.m. MT match against the hosts from Midwestern State.