The Wayne State volleyball team bounced back from Tuesday’s upset loss at Sioux Falls to post a pair of wins on the road over the weekend.
On Friday, outside hitter Jaz DeHaan recorded a match-high 16 kills to lead the No. 13 Wildcats past Bemidji State, 25-17, 25-23, 25-14.
WSC used a balanced offensive attack with five players recording three or more kills to take the opening set. WSC hit .389 in the opening set with 16 kills and just two errors as Maggie Brahmer and Kelsie Cada each netted four kills.
The second set saw the Wildcats erase an early 9-4 deficit with the help of four kills by Taya Beller had four kills and three each from DeHaan, Cada and Brahmer.
The third set was dominated by DeHaan, who recorded 10 kills in the set as the Wildcats completed the three-game sweep.
Wayne State finished the match hitting. 322, recording 48 kills and just 11 errors on 115 attacks. Bemidji State hit .160 with 33 kills and 16 errors on 106 attempts.
DeHaan’s 16 kills paced Wayne State in hitting followed by Beller with 10. Setter Rachel Walker was credited with 41 set assists while Cada had a match-high 16 digs. Lauren Jacobsen had two of Wayne State’s three service aces.
In Saturday action, The Wildcats hit .435 as a team to sweep the University of Minnesota Crookston, 25-15, 25-13 and 25-12.
The first set saw four ties and two lead changes and a Golden Eagle attack error forced a timeout from Minnesota Crookston with the the Wildcats leading 15-11. Wayne State finished the set and used four kills DeHaan to lead the way.
The second set started off close and with the score at 7-6 in favor of Minnesota Crookston, WSC used six consecutive serves from DeHaan to take an 11-7 lead. WSC had three service aces in the period to take a 2-0 match advantage. Beller and Brahmer each had five kills and no errors in the set on seven swings to lead the Wildcats offense.
Wayne State took an early 6-0 lead on serves from sophomore defensive specialist Jordan McCormick and never trailed during the frame, getting six kills on seven swings from Brahmer to close out the match.
As a team, Wayne State had 42 kills and held Minnesota Crookston to just 29 kills in the match. WSC outhit the Golden Eagles .435-.145 and had nine more set assists in the match 37-28. The ‘Cats had six service aces in the match compared to just three from Minnesota Crookston and WSC had a 36-32 edge in digs. Wayne State had five blocks in the match and the Golden Eagles had none.
Two Wildcats hit over .700 for the match with Brahmer hitting .722 with 13 kills and Beller hitting .733 with 11 kills. DeHaan added seven more kills for the Wildcat offense. Walker had 33 set assists in the match and joined Brahmer and Beller with two blocks each in the match.
Libero Alaina Wolff had nine digs to lead WSC while sophomore Cada added eight digs. McCormick and DeHaan each had two service aces for the Wildcats.
Wayne State (20-6, 13-5 NSIC) will close out the regular season at home next weekend, hosting No. 12 St. Cloud State Friday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 1 p.m.
