WICHITA FALLS – With Saturday's road sweep against Midwestern State (4-17, 2-9), Tarleton (15-5, 10-2) has matched the best conference record through 12 games in school history by improving to 10-2 in Lone Star Conference action.
 
This is Tarleton's fifth straight win over Midwestern State, including the sweep at Wisdom Gym earlier this season.
 
The teams were neck-and-neck to begin the match, opening the first set in a 9-9 tie. An attack error by MSU gave Tarleton the lead for the rest of the set at 10-9 as the TexAnns went on to score the next three points and eight of the next 10 to lead 18-11.
 
At the 18-12 mark, Tarleton struck with a quick 4-1 push on an MSU error and kills by Nikki McNorton, Stacie Murrah and Katie Covell to hold a commanding 22-13 lead.
 
MSU then scored three straight to trail 22-16, but Tarleton put the game away by scoring three of the last five points to claim the first game 25-18.
 
In the second set, Midwestern battled over the first part of the game by staying even with the TexAnns through the 8-8 mark.
 
Kelsey Raglin answered the call by serving up five straight Tarleton points – on the strength of three MSU errors and kills by McNorton and Covell – to force a Mustang timeout at 13-8.
 
MSU broke the TexAnn run with a kill and clawed back to 15-12, but Tarleton responded when Meg Umbel landed a kill to make it 16-12. Covell took control and served up four straight points to lead 20-12.
 
After MSU broke Covell's run, the TexAnns struck for three straight to lead 23-13. MSU landed the next two points to bring it to 23-15, but a kill from McNorton and a service ace Danielle Barker ended the set in Tarleton's favor at 25-15.
 
The third set began very differently as the TexAnns exploded for four quick points on two MSU errors and a pair of Raglin  kills to lead 4-0.
 
Tarleton maintained a healthy lead until the 11-6 mark when MSU struck for four straight points and eventually eight of the next nine to take a 14-12 lead over Tarleton.
 
Umbel ended the Mustang run again with a kill shot, then Emily Klein served up five straight points to give the TexAnns an 18-14 lead. The Mustangs would not go away, however, scoring four of the next five points to pull within one at 19-18.
 
The team stayed tight until MSU scored back-to-back points to bring the game back even at 22-22 to force at Tarleton timeout. Out of the break, the teams traded kills to force extra points at 24-24.
 
Tarleton took the advantage at 25-24 when MSU failed to successfully land an attack, which forced MSU to take another timeout. Out of the break, Klein landed a service ace to secure the comeback and the match for Tarleton.
 
Katie Covell recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs while McNorton and Raglin were close behind with nine and eight kills, respectively. McNorton led all hitters in the match with a .400 hitting percentage.
 
Barker led all players with 30 assists, marking the 14^th time this season the junior setter has topped 30 assists in a match. Klein led the team in digs with 20.
 
The TexAnns will wrap up their current three-game road trip Tuesday night in Fort Worth as they break from Lone Star Conference play for a 7 p.m. against Texas Wesleyan.