Box Score

MARSHALL, MINN.: Laura Hegerle had 16 kills to lead No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-12) conference win over Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon in Marshall.

SMSU improves to 20-2 (9-1, NSIC); UIU drops to 10-11 (2-8, NSIC).

Tory Brouwer joined Hegerle in the double digit kills club as she terminated 10 balls on the afternoon.

Sarah Quiram and Brittany Wenzel anchored SMSU's defensive effort with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

SMSU outblocked the Peacocks 10-2 with Halie Wewel providing a strong wall from her middle blocker position.  The freshman led all with six stuffs.

Sara Graf, fresh off a 57-assist match last night against Winona State, quarterbacked SMSU's offense and finished with 29 assists.

The Mustangs trailed the Peacocks by as many as seven midway through the first set, but SMSU played an effective catch-up game and went on a 5-1 run to close and win the set.

The momentum built at the tail end of the opening set was carried over to opening points of the second set as SMSU rattled off five unanswered points.  That lead never dissolved, and the Mustangs handled a solid hitting performance by UIU to take the set.

An SMSU early lead in the third and final set proved to be to much for the Peacocks; three runs of four or more points by the Mustangs was enough to seal the set and match victory.

Heading into Saturday afternoons, the Mustangs had never lost a set to UIU in eight meetings.  The win extends SMSU's streak to nine straight match wins and 27 straight set wins against the Peacocks.

SMSU returns to action next weekend when it travels to St. Cloud State and Concordia-St. Paul for a pair of conference matches.