Box Score
MARSHALL, Minn. - In a battle of two nationally ranked teams,
Devin Diedrich and
Mary Groth each had 16 kills to lead No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-21) conference victory over No. 11 Minnesota Duluth Friday night in Marshall, Minn.
The match-up not only featured two top-16 squads, but also two of the Central Region's top teams as UMD was No. 3 and SMSU was No. 4 in the latest region rankings released earlier this week.
SMSU improves to 20-7 (10-5 NSIC), while UMD drops to 19-5 (12-2 NSIC).
The Mustangs picked up their first win over a nationally ranked program since Sept. 11 when they, coincidentally, downed the then No. 10-ranked Bulldogs 3-1.
Diedrich, who also aced three serves, and Groth were the lone Mustang hitters to eclipse double-figure kills. Broooke Burmeister was one shy with nine.
Cara Carson tallied 32 assists for SMSU. The sophomore setter also added four kills, six digs and a pair of solo blocks to her performance.
The SMSU defense was balanced; six different Mustang had at least four digs.
Kenzie Niesche topped the stat sheet with eight.
A .171 hitting performance from the Mustangs in the opening set didn't stop the host team from putting together a trio of five-point leads, the last coming when Diedrich terminated a ball for set point.
The charge only gained steam in the ensuing set as SMSU took a double-figure lead when a Burmiester kill gave the Mustangs an 18-10 advantage. Groth was responsible for the second 10-point lead, sending one final ball home for set point.
The Bulldogs, however, looked poised to make a run of their own in the third set. UMD built a five-point lead early before the Mustangs went to work, rattling off five unanswered points to knot the set a 10-10. After a pair of kills from Groth, SMSU took and extended a lead to 15-13. The Bulldogs again locked it up at 18-18, but Burmiester was too much down the stretch as she recorded four kills to lift her Mustangs to the 25-21 set win.
SMSU topped UMD in kills 47-38, but both squads were at or above the .220 mark for hitting percentage.
Alyssa Nelson's 14 kills and Eleena Iisakka's 33 assists led UMD.
The Mustangs will host Bemidji State tomorrow at 3 p.m.
