BOX SCORE

DENVER, Colo. - No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State defeated No. 16 West Texas A&M--who made it to the national championship last season--in straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-21. With the win SMSU extends its match winning streak to five games and a record of 5-0. The Mustangs have also won 10 consecutive sets. West Texas A&M falls to 3-2 on the 2010 season.

The Mustangs were led by junior Devin Diedrich who recorded 16 kills in today's contest. Diedrich was 16 of 34 with a .353 hitting percentage. Brooke Burmeister was not far behind piling up 11 kills in 29 attempts for a .310 hitting percentage.

SMSU and West Texas A&M traded points early in the first set but the Mustangs were down 7-9. SMSU fought back to tie the score 9-9 with a huge block assist by Diedrich and Abby Meyers. Diedrich followed that play with a big kill to put SMSU up for good. The Mustangs recorded a .571 team hitting percentage in the first set.

SMSU got another big block assist by Rachel Westby and Mary Groth to take a 15-12 lead. Burmeister came up with two consecutive kills to give the Mustangs an 18-14 lead forcing the Lady Buffs to take a timeout. Right out of the timeout Burmeister fired another powerful kill and Kenzie Niesche followed that with an ace to give the Mustangs a 20-14 lead. The Mustangs won the first set 25-15 on a kill by Diedrich.

SMSU came out swinging in the second set and earned an early 5-1 lead forcing West Texas A&M to use an early timeout. Meyers stepped up in the second set with five kills. She finished the match with eight kills.

The Mustangs continued to block well today, SMSU finished the match with six team blocks. Meyers and Mary Groth combined for a block assist to put SMSU up 19-11 in the second set. Diedrich sealed the victory in the second set with a powerful kill giving the Mustangs a 25-19 win.

West Texas A&M wouldn't go away easily in the third set. SMSU came out on top to win its 10th consecutive set 25-21. The Mustangs got behind early and fought their way back to a 7-7 tie with the serve. SMSU and West Texas A&M rallied back and forth and SMSU found themselves with a 20-15 lead.

Meyers served up another block for SMSU to put the Mustangs up 22-16. SMSU lost the serve and West Texas A&M fired back to make the score 24-20. SMSU was striking ball after ball while West Texas A&M came up with some really big digs to keep in the game. Head coach Terry Culhane called a timeout to settle down the Mustangs and SMSU went on to with the third set 25-21.

The Mustangs will continue play in the Colorado Premier Challenge this afternoon when they take on host No. 12 Metro State at 4:30 p.m. CDT.