BOX SCORE

GOLDEN, Colo. - No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team extended its match winning streak to four by winning its final game of the Colorado School of Mines Classic. Included in the streak SMSU also extended its set winning streak to seven sets. The Mustangs defeated Colorado School of Mines 27-25, 25-16 and 25-15. This is also the second consecutive match that SMSU has won in three straight sets. The Mustangs improve to 4-0, while Mines drops to 3-1.

Junior All-American Devin Diedrich and sophomore Kenzie Niesche were both named to the Colorado School of Mines All-Tournament team. To go along with her all-tournament team selection, Diedrich was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The two teams traded points early in the first set and the Mustangs found themselves behind the host Orediggers 11-15. SMSU fought back to tie the first set 15-15 but eventually were behind 20-18. The Mustangs fired back and won a point-for-point set 27-25.

Brook Burmeister led the Mustangs with 13 kills against the Orediggers, while hitting at .379 percent. The sophomore was all over the court tonight pitching in with 10 digs on defense. Mary Groth put home 10 kills and added three block assists.

SMSU came out firing on all cylinders in the second set. The Mustangs got ahead early and never trailed the rest of the night. The SMSU defense was once again hard to get by. The Mustangs reeled off two consecutive block assists and went on an eight-point run to take a 16-11 lead.

SMSU entered the 2010 season looking to improve its team blocking and they have done just that. The Mustangs recorded nine blocks in their first match today and 11 against Mines.

Freshmen Abby Meyers and Rachel Westby continued to contribute to the Mustangs offensive attack. Westby finished the final match of the tournament with 6 kills and 12 digs against Mines. Meyers fired 9 kills in 18 attempts good enough for a .444 hitting percentage.

Groth showed off her power in the second set when gave SMSU a 20-15 lead with a strong kill. She finished with 10 kills on the evening. The Mustangs scored five consecutive points to win set two 25-16. SMSU hit at .364 percent as a team in the second set, setting up a powerful showing in the final set of the night.

Diedrich and Burmeister started off the third and final set with a block assist and set the tone for the remainder of the match. SMSU rallied to a 7-3 lead and forced Mines to take an early timeout. The Mustangs never looked back after the break finishing off the three-game and tournament sweep. The CSM Classic MVP Diedrich made the final kill of the match to give the Mustangs 25-15 win in set three to complete the three game sweep, and seventh consecutive set win.

SMSU takes its No. 15 ranking and 4-0 record into the Colorado Premier tournament next weekend in Denver, Colo. The Mustangs will meet up with No. 7 West Texas A&M on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. CDT. Later that day they match-up with No. 10 Metro State at 4:30 p.m. CDT.