Box Score
ST. PAUL, Minn.- Taylor Reiss had another record setting day as she racked up a career-high 41 kills with a .367 hitting percentage in a thrilling 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-8 win for Southwest Minnesota State over Augustana in the first of two NSIC semifinal matches on Saturday afternoon in the Gangelhoff Center.
Reiss, who tied an NSIC Tournament record for kills in a single match (31) in Wednesday's quarterfinal win, set the NSIC Tournament record and SMSU school record with her 41 kills on Saturday.
Reiss and the Mustangs' second primary outside hitter,
Kaylee Burmeister, combined for 63 of SMSU's 76 kills and 41 total digs between the two juniors.
Burmeister had 22 kills with a .340 hitting percentage while
Sarina Smith added seven kills on just 16 attacks with one error (.375). Smith also had five of the Mustangs' eight total blocks in the win.
SMSU, trailing by a point in the opening set, went on a 7-0 run to take a 23-18 lead and later finished off a 25-22 win on a kill from Reiss.
The Mustangs climbed out of a late two-point deficit to even the second set at 22-22 but lost three of the final points as Augustana won the second set 25-23 to even the match.
A tight third set that saw 11 tied scores and five lead changes was even at 23-23 before Augustana won the final two points to take a 2-1 lead.
The Mustangs came out on fire in the fourth set jumping out to a 12-5 lead after a 6-0 run. A quick stretch in which Reiss grabbed four kills in five rallies gave SMSU a 19-11 lead in the set which they would ride on the way to a 25-21 win to send the match to a fifth set.
After dropping the first three points of the fifth set, SMSU went on a 7-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. The Mustangs went ahead 8-6 as the teams switched sides, and followed up by winning the next four points to give SMSU a 12-6 lead. Kaylee Burmeister added two more kills in the final moments as SMSU punched its ticket to the NSIC Championship with a 15-8 win in set five.
The Mustangs will now await the winner of top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul against fourth-seeded Minnesota Duluth.
