The Wayne State volleyball team saw its national title hopes come up short Saturday in the semifinals of the Div. II Central Regional at Rice Auditorium, losing in four sets to fifth-seeded St. Cloud State, 30-28, 25-16, 22-25-25-22.
The Wildcats came back from a 24-22 deficit in the opening set and had three chances to finish off the win, but were unable to as St. Cloud State fought off each opportunity and took advantage of two Wayne State errors to take the opening set.
St. Cloud's momentum carried through to the second set as they took a 2-0 advantage, but Wayne State battled back in the third, fighting off a late Husky rally to send the match to a fourth set.
The fourth set was tight throughout and Wayne State was within one point on several occasions before the Huskies were able to close out the match and advance to Sunday's finals against Concordia-St. Paul, who beat Minnesota Duluth in four sets earlier in the day.
Kelsie Cada recorded 18 kills, Taya Beller added 17 and Maggie Brahmer had 15 for the 30-3 Wildcats. Rachel Walker had 49 assists. Taylor Bunjer was in on eight blocks while Beller had seven and Brahmer four. Jessie Brandl led in digs with 16 and Jordan McCormick had 13.
(Complete details in next week's edition of The Wayne Herald.)
