#15 Wayne State 3 #12 West Texas A&M 2

            Sophomore middle hitter Maggie Brahmer recorded a career-best 20 kills and matched a career-high with 10 blocks to help #15 Wayne State College rally for a five-set win over #12 West Texas A&M Saturday morning in the Gold Division semi-finals of the Colorado Premier Volleyball Challenge in Denver, Colorado.  WSC moves to 7-0 on the season while the Lady Buffs drop to 5-2.
            The opening set saw WSC rally from a 15-10 deficit as the Wildcats posted a 25-22 first set win.  Still trailing 20-19, WSC got four straight points to take the lead for good on a kills from Brahmer and Kelsie Cada, a Rachel Walker service ace and a block by Cada and Brahmer for a 23-20 lead.  Cada and Brahmer each had four kills for WSC in the opening set win.
            West Texas A&M came back in the second set, forcing the 'Cats into nine attack errors and a -.028 percentage as the Lady Buffs cruised to a 25-13 second set win.      
            The Lady Buffs built an 18-10 lead in the third set, but WSC rallied to force a 19-19 tie before West Texas A&M came back for a 25-23 third set win.  Taya Beller had six kills to lead the 'Cats with Brahmer adding five kills and three blocks.
            Wayne State bounced back in the fourth set and built an early 9-4 advantage as the 'Cats held on for a 25-22 fourth set win to force a fifth set.  Wayne State forced 10 Lady Buff attack errors (five blocks) in the set while Brahmer pounded out six kills on nine attempts to lead the Wildcats at the net.
            The 'Cats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set and were never threatened as Wayne State rallied for a 15-7 fifth set win to take the match 3-2.  Brahmer had three kills and two blocks in the set while Brooke Peltz and Cada each added a service ace.
            Wayne State ended the match with a .164 attack percentage compared to .181 for West Texas A&M.  The Lady Buffs held a 90-79 advantage in digs and 5-4 in service aces while WSC had one more block than West Texas A&M 14-13.
            Brahmer had a career-high 20 kills to lead Wayne State followed by Cada with 16 and Beller 14.  Cada had a team-high 20 digs while Brahmer matched a career-high with 10 blocks as both players had double-doubles.  Setter Rachel Walker had 48 set assists in the win.
            Wayne State will face NSIC rival and #6 Concordia-St. Paul in the Colorado Premier Challenge Championship match at 8 p.m. Saturday evening in Denver, Colorado.