WICHITA FALLS, Texas  Day 2 of the Midwestern State (Texas) Invitational on Saturday brought the same results as from Day 1 for Western Colorado volleyball—an opening match victory followed by an afternoon defeat.

The Mountaineers picked up their second win of the season with an early-morning 3-1 victory over the University of West Alabama but surrendered a 3-0 defeat to the host Mustangs in their second match of the day.

JUST THE FACTS
Final scores: Western def. West Alabama, 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15); Midwestern State def. Western, 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-21)
Records: Western 2-2, West Alabama 0-3, Midwestern State 2-2
Location: D.L. Ligon Coliseum, Wichita Falls, Texas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers started slowly in the West Alabama match, falling behind early, 5-1, and unable to cut into their deficit until late in the set when they fought off four set points before ceding a 25-23 win to the Tigers.
• That late spurt proved to be the wake-up call. Western swept through the next three games without ever trailing, scoring the opening three points of the second and third sets and the initial four points in the match-clinching fourth set.
• Maggie Olson led all attackers in the match, knocking down a career-best 15 kills while also registering a match and career-high four service aces.
• Nur Turkmenoglu added three aces while setting up the attack with a match-high 36 assists.
• Seyun Park chimed in with eight kills during the victory, while Olive Rolseth and Kerri Carsrud contributed seven apiece.
• Western's defense, which included a match-high 16 digs from Elizabeth Rupprecht, limited the Tigers to a paltry .066 hitting percentage.
• Short bouts of surrendered scoring runs to Midwestern State in the second match short-circuited the hopes for a sweep of the day.
• The Mustangs broke a 2-2 first-set tie with a 5-0 run from which Western was never able to recover in going down a set to the hosts.
• MSU used a 6-0 spurt when leading a 5-4 to break away from Western in the second set. But the Mountaineers this time were able to rally back to within striking distance, notching their own 6-0 run to cut a 22-15 deficit to just one point before MSU could finish off the set win.
• The Mountaineers had gained momentum in that second set and in the third forged a lead four different times, including midway through the set at 15-14. The Mustangs used a 5-1 run to break a 16-16 tie, however, and would hold off Western's last challenge for the match victory.

NET NOTES

• As solid as the attack was in the opening match, a .303 hitting percentage, Western wasn't as successful against the Mustangs, succeeding on the attack at just a .167 rate.
• Though she fell one kill shy of tying for match-high honors against Midwestern, Olson's hot day continued as she rang up 12 more kills to lead the Mountaineer attack.
• Rolseth's six kills against MSU gave her 13 on the day to trail only Olson's career day.

UP NEXT

• The Mountaineers will participate in the Mountain Lion Invitational at University of Colorado Colorado Springs on September 8 and 9.
• Western will play Nebraska-Kearney and Saint Martin's (Wash.) University on the first day, and Western Oregon University and Bemidji State (Minn.) University the second day of the Invite.