No. 15-ranked Wayne State College served up nine aces and forced 21 attack errors on Minnesota State to record a 25-13, 25-22 and 25-18 sweep in Northern Sun Conference volleyball Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.
The Wildcats made their presence felt defensively early in the match, forcing 10 Maverick attack errors in the first set to go with three service aces. Six different Wildcats had kills in the set, led by Tarrin Beller with three.
The second set was much closer, featuring nine ties and five lead changes. The Wildcats used the strong hitting from senior Katie Stephens – six kills on 10 attacks – along with four more kills from Beller to take the two-set advantage.
Libero Haley Kauth served up three aces in the third set while junior outside hitter Alyssa Ballenger accounted for five kills and the Wildcats added five blocks to complete the sweep.
Wayne State finished the match hitting .313 with 33 kills, seven errors and 83 attacks while Minnesota State hit .158 with 37 kills on 21 errors and 101 attempts. The Wildcats held an 8-3 edge in blocks and had nine service aces to five for the Mustangs. Wayne State had just three serving errors compared to 10 on the Mavericks.
Beller and Stephens each recorded nine kills to lead the Wildcats followed by Ballenger with eight. Defensive specialist Hope Carter accounted for a team-high 12 digs with Kauth adding eight to go with a team-best four service aces. Rachel Walker had 31 set assists and two service aces while Jaci Brahmer and Maddie Knobbe each recorded four blocks.
Wayne State (13-1, 4-1 NSIC) will be at home again Saturday, hosting seventh-ranked Concordia-St. Paul in a 4 p.m. NSIC contest.
