What happened: Midland College lost a close match to Odessa College on Wednesday night at Chaparral Center. Odessa won the first two sets. Midland won the next two to tie the match before Odessa took the fifth set 15-12. Odessa opened with a 25-19 win. The Lady Wranglers then won the second set 25-16 to put Midland one set away from a loss.

Midland answered with a 25-19 win in the third. The Lady Chaps stayed in the match with a narrow 25-23 win in the fourth. That left both teams needing one more set to win. Midland had erased Odessa’s early lead but could not finish the comeback. Odessa won the final set by three points to take the match 3-2.

The big picture: Giovana Maia led Midland with 17 kills and 17 digs. Mia Bell helped set up the offense with 32 assists and recorded 15 digs. Iasmin Araujo contributed eight kills and 15 digs. The loss ended Midland’s two-match winning streak. The Lady Chaps had beaten Clarendon College and Western Texas College before facing Odessa.

What’s next: Midland travels to Amarillo College for a 2 p.m. match Saturday. Amarillo won their earlier meeting 3-1 at Midland. Saturday gives the Lady Chaps another chance against the Badgers as they continue their conference schedule. The loss puts Midland at 12-9 overall and 3-6 in conference play. Odessa improved to 14-11 overall with a 7-2 conference record.

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