BOX SCORE

DULUTH, Minn. – Devin Diedrich etched her name into the SMSU record books in tonight's 2-3 loss to No. 2 Minnesota Duluth. The No. 4 Mustangs dropped a thriller to the No. 2 Bulldogs by scores of 25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 21-25 and 11-15. The junior became the eighth player in Southwest Minnesota State history to enter the 1,000 kill club. She finished the match with a career-high 26 kills to give her, 1,024 career kills.

The Bulldogs handed SMSU its first NSIC loss of the season. The Mustangs fall to 10-2, 3-1 NSIC while the Bulldogs remain perfect at 13-0, 5-0 NSIC.

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set. UMD fired right back and the two teams traded points for the remainder of the first set. UMD took an eventual two point lead forcing Terry Culhane to call a timeout for the Mustangs. Southwest Minnesota State came out of the timeout and earned the next four points to take a 21-19 lead.

Diedrich led the Mustangs to a 25-21 first set win. She finished the first set with 9 kills and a .529 hitting percentage. Rachel Westby led the SMSU defense early in the match. The freshman had 12 digs for the Mustangs. Southwest Minnesota State held the Bulldogs to a .205 hitting percentage in the first set. Westby finished the match with a career-high 21 digs.

Cara Carson added to her NCAA Division II lead in assists tonight with a career-high 59 set assists. The junior had a tough task to set up her hitters against the UMD block. The Bulldogs finished the match with 15 blocks.

After the Mustangs took an early 3-0 lead in the first set the teams picked up right where they left off in the first set. The Bulldogs fired back to a 3-3 tie and they traded point-for-point but the Mustangs couldn't quite come all the way back. UMD took an 18-11 lead forcing Southwest Minnesota State into its second timeout of the set.

With the score 21-16 in UMD's favor the two teams got into the longest rally of the match ending with Diedeich's 13th kill of the night. The Mustangs couldn't quite fight all the way back dropping the second set 20-25.

The Mustangs came out firing in the third set to the tune of a 7-2 lead. Mary Groth picked up her offensive attack in the third set. The sophomore had five big kills late in the third set to keep the Mustangs ahead in the score and eventually win the third set 25-16. Southwest Minnesota State out-hit the Bulldogs .300 to .103 in the third set tonight.

Southwest Minnesota State started out the fourth set with a two point lead on kills by Carson and Westby. The Mustangs carried the lead in the fourth set until the Bulldogs were able to tie the score 12-12. Diedrich then put SMSU back in front getting through the UMD double block.

The Mustangs switched their approach later in the match getting away from the middle of the net and the UMD block. Diedrich and Groth began to run slides in an attempt to get the Bulldog defense on the move.

The Bulldogs went on to with the fourth set 25-21 and force the Mustangs to a fifth set for only the third time this season. Groth finished the match with 18 kills.

Southwest Minnesota State lost the fifth and final set 11-15. This marked the Mustangs first loss in a five set match this season. SMSU fought back hard but could not overcome the momentum and the hostile environment as UMD went on to hand the Mustangs their first conference loss of the season.

The Mustangs will pick up NSIC action tomorrow afternoon when they take on Bemidji State at 4 p.m. at the BSU Gymnasium.