The Cowgirls fell to RMAC West competitor Colorado Mesa University in five (21-25,25-20,25-18,17-25,15-11) sets Saturday night at Brownson Arena.
Led by Senior Setter
Brooke Fahnestock, who had 33 assists, Highlands had a total of 41 kills, one of which by Freshman Libero
Sheila Olaechea.
Highlands had two hitters with double-digit kills – Sophomore Outside Hitter
Darian Mullen (12 kills, .267) and Senior Outside Hitter
Ashley Nugent (11 kills, .138) were the go to hitters for the visitors.
Senior Middle Blocker
Dominique Benton had an awesome match with five kills and 13 blocks.
The first set was controlled entirely by Highlands who hit .207, which was efficiently better than Mesa's .054. Tied at 8's, a pair of kills from the Mustangs put the home team up by two, but a string of errors gave the Cowgirls a 13-10 lead. Mesa never recovered from their mental errors, especially when the 'Girls went on another 3-0 run later in the set on their way to a 25-21 win.
The next two sets gave Mesa a confidence that they did not know they had. Mesa hit a mediocre .140 but it was more than enough to beat Highland's -.033.
Highlands played with authority in the fourth set. Mesa started strong until 6-10 when kills from Nugent and Mullen sparked the Highlands momentum. The Cowgirls went up 11-10 and chipped away patiently until the lead was completely theirs at 13-12. During the 10-2 run, Senior Opposite
Kelsey Groff and Sophomore Middle Blocker
Jazmine Harge led the offense on the way to the 25-17 win.
With the match tied at two sets apiece, the fifth provided to be a critical point in the RMAC West standings. Both teams started extremely strong going on runs each, until tied at 6's. But, a kill from Haleigh Higgins opened the set to the Mavericks who used their three kills in six points as go-ahead points. Nugent buried a ball to make the set 7-10, but Mesa's offense kept siding out until they had won the match 15-11.
View the Complete Stats
HERE.
Highlands is now tied for fourth in the RMAC West playoff standings.
View the Complete Standings
HERE.
The Cowgirls travel to Portales, N.M. to take on Eastern New Mexico University on 11/1 at 7:00 p.m.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
