SILVER CITY, N.M. - The Pioneers' five-game winning streak came to an end Friday in a five-set battle against the Mustangs that saw both teams struggling on offense and trying to maintain any lead.
 
Texas Woman's (6-10, 2-4 LSC) went into the Western New Mexico (12-5, 4-3 LSC) match with high hopes, coming off of five wins to the Mustangs' three losses, but their momentum just wasn't there. Despite a strong effort, the Pioneers fell in five, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12.  TWU could only muster a .124 hitting percentage for the match to WNMU's .178.
 
Neither team could manage to maintain a comfortable lead throughout the first two sets. The Pioneers fought back the Mustangs at set point in the first set, scoring four in a row before a service error by junior Katy Ranes ended the set in the Mustangs favor at 25-22. A ball handling error by Western New Mexico at set point gave the second set to Texas Woman's 25-22.

"We came out of the gate really strong," TWU head coach Jeff Huebner said. "But we gave up a bit of our run and didn't focus up to maintain it."  

The Pioneers seemed to find their rhythm at the beginning of the third set, registering an early lead that they struggled to hold onto as the Mustangs started to recover. Strong digs and kills kept WNMU neck and neck with TWU, but the Pioneers responded with kills from freshman Elizabeth Ugbaja and junior Courtney Noel coupled with a series of errors by the Mustangs, including a set-ending service error, gave TWU the third set 25-23.
 
WNMU came out strong in the fourth set, setting up a five-point lead before freshman Isabel Vega broke the run with a kill. Junior Maggie Pyles brought in a series of kills that helped close the gap between the two squads, but an attack error by Vega gave the fourth set to the Mustangs, 25-21. 

"Our strengths all year have been our defense and service, but we were a little bit inconsistent tonight with the norm," Huebner said.

A floundering Texas Woman's fell behind quickly in the fifth set until a timeout at 9-3 seemed to get them back on the right path. Noel and Pyles continued to score with TWU fighting back at set point with a successful block, but WNMU's attack proved too much, ending the set 15-12. 

 "It was about us, our errors," Huebner said. "When we controlled the ball we were in control of the game, but our problems came from our control too."

TWU continues conference action tomorrow at 2:30 against UT-Permian Basin.