BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY

MARSHALL, Minn. - The No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State defeated Minnesota Crookston in four sets by scores of 25-19, 25-14, 18-25, 25-20. It was SMSU's 18th straight victory over Minnesota Crookston.

The Mustangs combined to hit .155 (49-27-142). Abbey Thissen led with a team high 13 kills and 28 attacks, while Claire Sames tallied 10 in the winning effort.

The Mustangs used a 6-0 run in set 1 sparked by two Whitney Burmeister serving aces to take a 9-3 lead. The Mustangs would see their lead grow to 19-10 as Sarah Parker connected on one of her x kills. SMSU would fend off the pesky Golden Eagles' late rally with a Sames kill to take the set 25-19.

SMSU would jump out to an early 4-0 lead to start the second set. With the score 11-8, SMSU would go on a 6-0 run capped off by a kill by Sames. SMSU would go on a 4-0 run to close the set and win by a score of 25-14.

In set three the Mustangs struggled to pass well and UMC and Brittany Looker took advantage. Down 9-8, UMC would reel off six consecutive points to take a 15-9 lead. The rally stole the momentum and allowed the Golden Eagles to roll to a 25-18 set victory to push the match score to 2-1.

The early part of the fourth set saw back and forth battle between the Golden Eagles and the Mustangs. With the set knotted up at 14, the Mustangs would score four straight to take an 18-14 lead and would never look back taking the set 25-20.

SMSU (17-5, 12-2 NSIC) will hit the road next weekend to take on St. Cloud State and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth.