>Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University took down No. 6 seed Nebraska-Kearney in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament Thursday afternoon by scores of 26-24, 25-17, 24-26, 21-25, 15-9.
SMSU (22-9) hit .191 in the match putting up 11 total team blocks led by Sarah Parker with seven—one solo. UNK (27-4) hit .145 on the day with nine total team blocks.
Abbey Thissen recorded a team-high 15 kills while hitting .222.Claire Sames led the Mustangs hitting .414 with 13 kills along with Eisha Oden contributing 13 kills with six blocks—two solo.
In the first set, Nebraska-Kearney jumped out quickly with a 3-0 run but SMSU came back out with a 7-0 run to take the lead. Both teams traded points through the set but the Mustangs never gave the lead up until the Lopers came back to tie it late in the set at 24-24. SMSU closed the set off with a pair of points to take the first set, 26-24.
In the second frame, SMSU took control early as the Mustangs lead 10-4 to start and did not look back. Nebraska-Kearney came back to pull within a point but an 8-1 run gave the Mustangs a comfortable 22-13 lead. SMSU went to take a 2-0 match lead as it closed off the set, 25-17.
Both teams traded points early in the start until SMSU built a 10-6 lead going into a UNK timeout. Nebraska-Kearney fought back to tie the set up 11-11 and went on to take the lead 13-11. The Lopers continued to lead despite the Mustangs pull within one late and tying the set, at 24-24. A pair of points for UNK kept the Lopers alive and avoided the sweep taking the set, 26-24.
In the fourth, UNK jumped out to a 3-0 lead and kept it till SMSU tied it up at 7-7. The Mustangs went on to take one point lead which did not last long as the Lopers went on a five-point run to take the lead 14-10. UNK went on to hold the lead to force a fifth set, 26-24.
In the deciding set, both teams traded points early as there were eight tie scores and three lead changes. After both teams were tied at 5-5, SMSU took the lead again and lead 11-8 going into a UNK timeout. The Mustangs then went on a 4-1 run to take the set and match, 15-9.
Southwest Minnesota State will continue on in the NCAA Central Region Tournament and will play No. 2 seed Concordia-St. Paul on Friday starting at 5 p.m.
