BOX SCORE

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball defeated St. Cloud State in straight sets 25-17, 25-18 and 25-16. Devin Diedrich led the Mustangs with 17 kills and a .516 hitting percentage. The Mustangs improve to 17-2, 9-1 NSIC while the Huskies fall to 12-7, 7-4 NSIC.

Diedrich and Brooke Burmeister powered the Mustangs past the Huskies in the NSIC match tonight. Burmeister picked up 12 kills for the Mustangs along with a .321 hitting percentage, two kills and two digs.

Cara Carson picked up 48 assists and seven digs in the match. Carson set up the Mustangs with big swings tonight as the Mustangs hit .325 as a team. SMSU had 54 kills in the match while the Huskies picked up 28 kills hitting .121 percent.

The Mustangs held the lead at 13-9 in the first set. After a kill by Diedrich the Mustangs went on a six point run behind the serve of Carson to take an 18-9 lead. Diedrich led SMSU in the first set with eight kills and a .889 hitting percentage. The Mustangs hit .364 as a team in the first set. Burmeister picked up five kills in the first set. SMSU had 21 kills to the Huskies eight in the first set.

Kenzie Niesche started with the serve in the second set for the Mustangs. The sophomore libero served the Mustangs to six straight points. The Mustangs found themselves with a 14-7 lead until the Huskies fired back with the next five points to cut the SMSU lead to 14-12. Niesche finished the match with six digs.

Rachel Westby was the top defender for the Mustangs. The freshman picked up 19 digs against the Huskies tonight, she also added four kills.

Mary Groth got the Mustangs back on track with her sixth kill of the night and SMSU picked up the next three points forcing SCSU into a timeout. The sophomore ended the second set with her ninth kill of the match giving the Mustangs a 25-18 second set win. She finished the night with 14 kills and a .303 hitting percentage while picking up a block assist.

The Mustangs were out blocked by the Huskies in the match. SCSU picked up seven blocks to the Mustangs three. Diedrich had one solo block for SMSU to go along with a block assist. SCSU's Kayla Tschida, who leads the NSIC in blocks, made it tough on the Mustang hitters picking up one solo block and four block assists.

The two teams traded points throughout the first half of the third set. After the Huskies took an 8-7 lead SMSU was able to tie the score then take the next five points and a 13-8 lead forcing SCSU into a timeout. With a 13-11 lead the Mustangs went on a seven point run to take a 20-11 lead. SMSU went on to win the final set 25-16. Groth and Burmeister paired up to end the match with back-to-back kills.

Southwest Minnesota State will head to St. Paul tomorrow afternoon to take on the NSIC's only remaining undefeated team in Concordia St. Paul. The Mustangs will look to end CU's consecutive NSIC win streak. SMSU was the last team to defeat the Golden Bears in an NSIC match on Sept. 22, 2007 in St. Paul. First serve is set for 4 p.m.