No. 11 St. Cloud State Huskies outlasted No. 15 Wayne State Wildcats 26-24, 25-16, 17-25 and 25-18 Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference action at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
The first set was tightly contested, with neither team able to build a lead in a set that featured 11 tied scores and four lead changes.
Up by three, Wayne State forced a St. Cloud State timeout at the 17-14 mark. Following the timeout the Huskies fought back and forced a timeout from WSC with the score knotted up at 21-21. The Huskies finished the set on a service ace. Middle hitter Maggie Brahmer and outside hitter Kelsie Cada each had five kills in the set to pace the WSC offense.
Wayne State gained the lead early in the second set, but SCSU took it back, taking their first lead at the 8-7 mark. With the score at 13-13, the Huskies served 10 consecutive points to break the set open and come away with the two-set advantage. Cada had four kills to lead the ‘Cats in the set.
WSC jumped out to an 11-8 lead and forced a SCSU timeout in the third set. The Huskies scored the next point, but was unable to pull closer. WSC led the rest of the set to cut the deficit in half. Brahmer had eight kills on nine attacks to go along with two blocks in the set to lead the ‘Cats.
The Huskies took a 7-2 lead early in the fourth, forcing a Wayne State timeout. Wayne State was able to knot the score up at 12-12, but the Huskies went on another run and were able to close out the 3-1 victory.
St. Cloud State had nine more kills than Wayne State 58-49 and had a 63-56 advantage in digs. The Huskies held a 7-3 edge in service aces and led the block category 9-7. Wayne State hit .207 on the night while the Huskies had a .279 attack percentage in the match.
Cada had 16 kills to lead WSC while Brahmer added 14. Cada also led the team in digs with 14 followed by libero Jordan McCormick with 12. Brahmer had five blocks in the contest while outside hitter Elly Larson added four blocks for Wayne State. Rachel Walker had 40 set assists in the contest.
The Wildcats (20-7, 13-6 NSIC) close out the regular season Saturday, hosting Minnesota Duluth on Parents/Senior Day starting at 1 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.
