BOX SCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – After two sets of back-and-forth action No. 9 Wayne State (Neb.) (1-1) downed No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State in straight sets 29-27, 28-26, 25-17 on Friday evening at the Wildwood Lodge Volleyball Classic hosted by Concordia-St. Paul.

SMSU's Mary Groth led all players in the match with 19 kills and was followed by Brooke Burmeister who finished with 18 kills. The effort by the duo was not enough as the Wildcats would take down the Mustangs in straight sets.

Tali Fredrickson led the Wildcats with 14 kills and was followed by Cori Hobbs who finished with 13.

Southwest Minnesota State could not overcome its own errors finishing the match with a .149 team attack percentage while the Wildcats hit .232 as a team.

The Mustangs could not get past the block by Wayne State who had 10 team blocks in the match led by Alex Armes who had two solo and four block assists.

The Mustangs and the Wildcats battled back and forth for the entire first set before SMSU went on a four-point run to take a 22-19 lead that included two kills by Groth and one by Burmeister. Wayne State called a timeout and was able to rally back to win the first set, needing extra points, 29-27.

The first set saw 17 tie scores and eight lead changes with the Wildcats finally coming out on top. After SMSU's short four-point lead Wayne State was able to put together short three-point runs finally shutting the door on SMSU in the first stanza.

Burmeister led all players with 10 kills in the first set. She was rivaled by Wayne State's Fredrickson who finished the set with 8 kills for the Wildcats.

The second set saw much of the same as the first set, with the same result. There were 10 tie scores and six lead changes before Wayne State pulled away with a 28-26 victory. Groth carried the Mustangs in the second set picking up 11 kills.

With SMSU leading 23-22 Wayne State grabbed six of the next nine points ending with consecutive kills by Mindy Moody.

The Wildcats widened the gap in the third set behind the help of SMSU's errors. Leading 13-10 over SMSU the Mustangs committed six attacking errors allowing the Wildcats to take a 22-12 lead.

Cara Carson led all players with a match-high 45 set assists. Carson added 16 digs and two kills against the Wildcats. Kenzie Niesche and Rachel Westby each had 18 digs on the night to lead all players.

Southwest Minnesota State will continue play in the Wildwood Lodge Volleyball Classic hosted by Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday. The Mustangs will take on Pittsburg State (Kan.) at 1 p.m. before taking on the No. 2 team in the country Central Missouri.