Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Taylor Reiss, the tournament Most Valuable Player, recorded a match-high 25 kills to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in championship match of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Sunday.
 
SMSU (28-3), the No. 2 seed in the tournament and the No. 4 ranked team in Division II, won by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-14, over the top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Golden Bears (28-3).
 
Reiss along with teammates Kaylee Burmeister and Megan Larson were all named to the six-person all-tournament team. Tori Hanson and Brooklyn Lewis from CSP and Tahlyr Banks from Augustana were also named to the team.
 
The tournament championships gives SMSU the NSIC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The official 64-team tournament field will be announced on Monday at 6:30 p.m. CST at NCAA.com. SMSU was No. 2 in this week's Central Region rankings with CSP at No. 1. The two teams split a pair of matches during the regular season prior to today's match.
 
The tournament championship is the second in team history (2012) in five championship match appearances. SMSU was runner-up in 2004, 2005 and 2016.
 
Reiss, who yesterday set a school record with 41 kills, finished today's match hitting .397 with just two errors on 58 attacks. Burmeister and Brooke Borchardt each added eight kills to help pace the Mustangs, while Megan Larson added 42 assists. Dani Potter racked 16 digs to lead the defense with Erin Corrigan and Burmeister each adding 12 digs. Potter has now recorded 16 or more digs in four of the last six matches.
 
SMSU finished the match hitting .298 with 49 kills on 121 attempts. The Mustangs were solid at the net recording eight team blocks with Sarina Smith leading the way with five assisted blocks.
 
SMSU never trailed in the opening set, building an early 12-8 lead. CSP would rally to tie the set at 12, but two kills by Reiss and one by Smith put SMSU back in front at 15-12.
 
CSP would cut the lead to 18-17, but a kill by Burmeister followed by a service ace by Burmeister gave the Mustangs a three-point cushion and never looked back in earning the set victory.
 
Set 2 saw 10 ties and five lead changes in a hard-fought battle. CSP reeled off five straight points in take a 12-8 advantage, but SMSU came right back scoring six of the next seven points, capped by Larson service ace to give SMSU a 14-13 lead.
 
Following a kill by CSP to tie the set at 14, SMSU countered with a kill by Reiss and a block by Smith and Caedyn Reinhardt to push the lead to 16-14, and SMSU never trailed in the set again. Four of SMSU's last 10 points in the set came via block.
 
In set 3, the teams battled to a 7-7 tie, but a kill by Burmeister started a 5-0 run, which was finished off by Burmeister ace serve, to make the score 12-7.
 
The teams split the next four points before SMSU put the match away with five straight points to build a 19-9 lead.
 
Borchardt would end the set with a kill off a pass from Larson to seal the three-set victory.
 
Lewis led the Golden Bears with 18 kills, while Hanson finished with 23 digs.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will be making its 14^th straight NCAA appearance and 15^th overall.