The Wildcat volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight games when it swept Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-0 on Saturday.

The victory pushed the win total to 20 for the season, giving the Wildcats back-to-back 20-win seasons.

“Not only did our usual starters play well, but we had some girls who hadn’t gotten a chance to play much this season step up and play well,” said Head Coach Kellen Mock.

The relatively easy victory over SW Oklahoma came two days after a five-set battle against Central Oklahoma. The Wildcats beat the Bronchos 3-2, but surprisingly, the five-set victory was the first this year for the Wildcats.

“It’s great to know your girls can go out there and pull out a win in a match like that,” Mock said. “It’s unusual for it to be this far into the season before it happens. We should have won the match earlier, but when it mattered, we showed up, which is always good.”

The Wildcats have two crucial matches this week. The first, against Midwestern State, will be critical. Midwestern is third in the Lone Star Conference standings behind the second-place ‘Cats.

Midwestern boasts a 5-2 conference record but only a 9-18 record overall. On the other side of the net, the Wildcats have a 6-1 conference record and a 20-5 overall record.

Saturday’s home match will feature Cameron University. Although the 2-5 Cameron squad may not be as tough an opponent as Midwestern, Mock still understands the importance of the conference match.

“Every conference weekend is huge,” Mock said. “We need to keep up the intensity. We can’t let our guard down.”

That intensity has led the Wildcats to 19 wins in their last 21 matches, a record that has not gone unnoticed.

“I love having such a great volleyball team on campus,” said Mallory Haggerton, freshman undeclared major from Keller. “I am a huge volleyball fan, and I take a lot of pride in our volleyball team.”