Box Score

MANKATO, MINN. - Minnesota State, Mankato used a solid hitting performance down the stretch to defeat No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22) in conference action Saturday afternoon in Mankato, Minn.

MSU improves to 17-11 (12-5, NSIC), while SMSU drops to 25-5 (13-4, NSIC).

SMSU put four spikers in double digits in the kills column.  Kasey Loeslie finished with a match-high 14, Devin Diedrich with 13 and Laura Hegerle and Maggie Geske with 11.

Sara Graf, dealing with a  relatively inefficient offense, recorded 47 assists on the afternoon.

A plethora of Mustang defenders cracked the 10 digs mark.  Sarah Quiram led all with 23 digs, while Brittany Wenzel dug up another 16.  Three other Mustangs had at least 10 digs.

MSU controlled set one throughout, building as much as a seven point lead.  The Mustangs managed a respectable rally late, closing the Mavericks' lead to just one at 24-23.  However, after a sideout and a chance to tie the set at 24, Diedrich sent a serve into the net, giving the Mavericks' the set point.

A 3-0 run to open the second set failed to hold for SMSU, and MSU quickly recovered to take the lead.  The Mustangs battled back to tie the set at 11-11 and took the lead with a four point run thereafter.  SMSU cruised for the remainder of the set, evening the match at 1-1 with a Hegerle kill at 24-20.

MSU again built a lead in the third set, but the Mustangs managed to tie at 23-23 late, despite some serving mistakes.  A composed Maverick team was able to regain the lead, scoring the final two points to win the set.

The host team put together another commanding lead in the fourth set.  The Mustangs were able to knot the set at 20-20, but the Mavericks were too much down the stretch, using an Amanda Beekman kill to complete the upset.

Neither squad seemed to get its offensive running on all cylinders as SMSU hit just .176 to MSU's .159.  The Mavericks, however, did make a solid offensive run to finish the match.

Serving errors at pivotal moments proved fatal for the Mustangs as they committed 11 in the loss.

SMSU hits the road this Tuesday to take on Minnesota, Crookston in a 6 p.m. conference match.