BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. - No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State took down No. 1 Wayne State in a five-set thriller this afternoon at the PE Gym in Marshall. Mary Groth had a career-high 28 kills in the win over the Wildcats. Cara Carson set a school record at SMSU with 74 set assists in the match. The Mustangs improve to 16-2, 8-1 NSIC while the Wildcats drop to 16-2, 7-2 NSIC.

The match saw 34 tie scores and 15 lead changes with the Mustangs coming out on top 3-2. Groth had a career-performance leading all hitters with 28 kills. She led SMSU with a .382 hitting percentage. Brooke Burmeister picked up a double-double notching 16 kills and a career-high 21 digs.

Blocking was the name of the game early in the first set. The Wildcats finished the first set with three team blocks to the Mustangs one. There were 12 tie scores and five lead changes alone in the first set, setting the tone for the match.

The Mustangs had three players with double-digits in kills. Devin Diedrich finished the afternoon with 18 kills five digs and two service aces. The two teams battled back and forth again in the second set with the Mustangs edging the Wildcats by a 25-23 score. Diedrich picked up three big kills for SMSU in the second set helping the Mustangs to its second set victory.

Carson had a busy night picking up a school record and career-high 74 assists. The Mustangs fired 189 attacks while picking up 81 kills (three kills shy of a school record at SMSU).

The Wildcats jumped out to a 10 point lead over the Mustangs in the third set 20-10. Southwest Minnesota State fought back but wound up short losing the third set 25-19. The Mustangs would not lay down after the third set loss.

SMSU found themselves tied 5-5 in the fourth set and took the lead on a kill by freshman Rachel Westby. The Mustangs would not look back from there holding the lead the entire third set and eventually winning 25-19. Groth picked up seven of her 28 kills in the fourth set igniting the Mustangs to a five-set win over the top-ranked Wildcats.

Five Mustangs finished the match with 13 or more digs. Kenzie Niesche led the Mustang defense with a season-high 26 digs. The Mustangs were helped by two four-point runs behind the serve of Westby and Brittany Wenzel. Wenzel finished with 13 digs and four assists.

After the fourth set with the crowd at the PE Gym began to rumble and the Mustangs fed off the energy. After an attack error by Westby to start the final set the Mustangs were able to tie the set twice and eventually take a 4-3 lead (a lead in which the Mustangs never let go). Groth picked up five more kills in the fifth set and Diedrich picked up three of her 18 in the final set.

Groth finished off the Wildcats with her 28th kill of the match to lead the Mustangs to a 3-2 win over Wayne State. This is the first win for the Mustangs over a No. 1 ranked team since 2006 when they defeated Grand Valley State on Aug. 25, 2006.

The Mustangs will hit the road for a pair of NSIC match-ups next weekend when they take on St. Cloud State on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Southwest Minnesota State will then head to St. Paul to take on Concordia St. Paul on Saturday, Oct. 16. First serve is set for 4 p.m.