Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kaylee Burmeister recorded a career-high 21 kills, hit .409 and recorded 11 digs to lead No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 road victory over No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul on Friday night at the Gangelhoff Center. SMSU won by scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18 and 15-10.
 
SMSU extended its winning streak to nine in a row and improves to 15-3 overall, 9-1 NSIC. CSP drops to 16-2 overall, 8-2 NSIC. CSP defeated SMSU 3-1 earlier this season in the championship match of the Colorado Premier Tournament.
 
The victory was SMSU's first at CSP since capturing the NSIC tournament championship in 2012. It was SMSU's first regular season victory at CSP since Sept. 22, 2007.
 
Taylor Reiss added 20 kills and 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season for the Mustangs, while Sarah Parker recorded 15 kills and hit .464. Eisha Oden also reached double figures in kills with 11 and had two block solos and three block assists.
 
SMSU closed the match hitting .312 (72-18-173), while CSP finished hitting .222 (62-27-158).
 
CSP hit a combined .333 in the first two sets, but the SMSU defense stiffened the final three sets, limiting the Golden Bears to a .130 percentage.
 
Amber Messner led the Mustangs with 19 digs with teammate Erin Corrigan also finishing in double figure digs with 10.
 
Megan Larson racked up 57 assists, nine digs and four kills for the Mustangs.
 
After dropping the first two sets and trailing 18-17 in set three, the Mustangs started the comeback taking seven of the next eight points to win 25-18.
 
SMSU jumped to a 5-1 lead in set four and never trailed in cruising to the 25-18 win. The Mustangs closed the set with consecutive kills by Parker, Oden and Reiss.
 
CSP build an early 3-1 lead in the final set, but a kill by Oden started a 6-0 spurt by the Mustangs. CSP had four straight attack errors during the run, with a double block by Reiss and Oden and a solo block by Oden highlighting the SMSU run.
 
CSP rallied with three straight points, but a kill by Reiss, an attack error by CSP and a kill by Oden pushed the lead to 10-6.
 
SMSU would have its lead cut to 11-9, but kills by Burmeister and Parker made the score 13-9. Following an SMSU service error, the Mustangs closed the match with a kill by Parker and a service ace by Burmeister to seal the victory.
 
CSP's Anna Schlaak, this week's AVCA National Player of the Week, finished with 16 kills, but was held to a .190 hitting percentage with eight errors.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues the weekend road trip tomorrow with a 4 p.m. match versus Minnesota State starting at 4 p.m. MSU dropped a 3-1 decision at home tonight to Sioux Falls.

Photo credit: Jordan Vredeveld, CSP