OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 26, 2021) – The excitement level was palpable in the Eagles' Nest on Tuesday night before Oklahoma Christian's first home volleyball match since 1983. Unfortunately, Midwestern State (Texas) made sure there wasn't any post-match celebration for the Eagles.

OC rallied from an early one-set deficit to tie the match, but the Mustangs turned their performance up a notch in the final two sets to beat the Eagles 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-16, 25-11) in the first of two matches between the Lone Star Conference divisional rivals in as many days.

Coming off a thrilling five-set win at Southwestern Oklahoma State in their season opener on Sunday, hopes were especially high for the Eagles in the first home match for the revived program. But OC (1-1, 0-1 LSC) managed only 30 kills, with no player recording more than five, resulting in a .129 attack percentage.

Meanwhile, Midwestern State (1-0, 1-0) had two players with double-digit kills – Taylor Anderson (13) and Kaitlynn Stoker (11) – while posting a .218 attack percentage.

"We worked hard and never gave up. We kept trying to get our nose in there and get dirty, but we just weren't making plays," OC coach Barry Wheeler said. "We'll just have to come back tomorrow and improve."

The first set was tight throughout and was tied 22-22 before a late spurt gave the Mustangs the win. OC quickly seized control of the second set, scoring six straight points and jumping to an 8-2 lead. Midwestern State eventually tied the set 15-15 and again at 18-18 before kills by Morgan Demuth and Talby Duerksen started a 5-0 run, with four of those points coming on the serve of Alexandra Aponte Torres. The Eagles won the set 25-19.

At that point, Wheeler felt good about the Eagles' chances.

"The first set wasn't bad," he said. "The second set was, of course, better. I thought we were in pretty good shape. But (Midwestern) came out and every adjustment we made, they countered every time."

The Mustangs led the third set 8-0 before anyone could blink and OC never recovered. It was more of the same in the fourth set as the Eagles never led.

"They just came out guns-a-blazing in the third and … we just couldn't make plays," Wheeler said. "In sets three and four, we did not pass the ball in system for us to be able to get a decent attack off. The times that we did, the timing wasn't there or something was just not right about it."

Demuth, Duerksen, Hannah Rouse and Allyssa Hamlin each had five kills for OC. Spencer Plato added 16 assists and eight digs, while Aponte Torres led the Eagles defensively with 11 digs.

OC and Midwestern State will play again at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.