No. 13-ranked Southwest Minnesota State rallied from a first-set deficit and came back to defeat No. 11 Wayne State 18-25, 25-20, 25-155, 25-18 in a Northern Sun Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon in Marshall, Minn.
The opening set saw Wayne State force 10 SMSU attack errors that included three Wildcat blocks as Wayne State registered the first-set win.
Southwest Minnesota State rallied in the second set to tie the match despite WSC forcing nine more attack errors on the Mustangs. The ‘Cats were held to just seven kills in the set.
The Mustangs came back from an early 6-3 deficit in the third set by scoring six straight points to take the lead for good and take a 2-1 advantage. The Mustangs continued their hot hitting and serving and thwarted any possible Wildcat rally in the fourth set as SMSU had four service aces and hit .414 with 15 kills to finish off the four-set win.
SMSU outhit WSC in the contest .226 to .145 and held a 60-39 advantage in kills over the Wildcats. WSC held a 12-10 edge in blocks over the Mustangs but SMSU had 11 service aces to five by the Wildcats.
Taya Beller led WSC with 11 kills followed by Maggie Brahmer with nine. Brahmer notched a career-best nine blocks in the match while Kelsie Cada had 14 digs with Alaina Wolff adding 12. Setter Rachel Walker had 27 set assists while Cada had three service aces.
The Wildcats (18-5, 11-4 NSIC) will be on the road next weekend, playing at Bemidji State Friday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest.
