DENTON, Texas (Nov. 5, 2016) – Sara Oxford, Anna McGee and Mary Kate Hyde of Texas Woman's University made the most of their curtain call playing inside Kitty Magee Arena in a 3-1 win (25-23, 2-25, 25-20, 25-22) over Western New Mexico Saturday afternoon to vault the Pioneers into eighth place within the Lone Star Conference standings for the final spot in the conference tournament with two games remaining during the regular season. 
 
Oxford notched another stellar performance with a game-high 19 kills and 14 digs for her 13^th double-double of the season. McGee pieced together her best showing in over a month with 13 kills and three blocks while Hyde compiled a game-high 27 assists. The trio competed in their home finale after a collective six seasons playing in a Pioneer jersey.
 
The victory pushed TWU (9-18, 5-12 LSC) into a tie with Midwestern State for eighth place within the league, and the Pioneers hold the tiebreaker from defeating MSU in both contests this season. TWU holds a two-game lead over UT Permian Basin (whom the Pioneers play during the final game of the season) and are three wins behind WNMU (16-12, 8-9 LSC).
 
In set one, TWU trailed 17-9 before Haley Collins sparked a 4-0 run to pull the Pioneers to within 17-13. Oxford headlined a 5-0 run shortly thereafter to tie the set at 20-all. TWU pulled ahead 22-21 on a kill by Courtney Noel, and McGee placed the Pioneers at set point with a kill off of a block before Hyde sent over the final point on a service ace.
 
Kills by Oxford and Noel along with a block by McGee and Noel opened set two, but WNMU quickly tied things at 4-4. A 4-0 Pioneer run erased a 16-12 deficit, but the Mustangs charged ahead at 22-18. A kill by Collins brought TWU to within 23-20, but WNMU tallied the final two points.
 
With an 11-9 lead in set three, the Pioneers tacked on four straight points and then extended the lead to 20-13 following a Mustang attack error. WNMU cut the margin to 23-20 on an ace and Pioneer attack error, but the Mustangs served a ball into the net and Oxford threw down another kill for the set win.
 
WNMU held a 16-12 advantage in set four until Oxford delivered two kills and teamed up with Katy Ranes for a block while Emma Petolick served up a pair of aces to hand TWU a 17-16 lead. Ranes caught the defense off guard by tossing over a dump that hit the line for a 20-19 lead, and back-to-back kills by Noel and Collins doubled the margin to 23-21. Two last kills by Oxford sealed the important win for the Pioneers.
 
The Pioneers close out the regular season next week at West Texas A&M Friday at 7:30 p.m. and UT Permian Basin Saturday at 2 p.m.