Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 1 ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team remained undefeated with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday night at the Stewart Center.
 
SMSU, which improves to 11-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, won by scores of 25-16, 21-25, 28-26 and 25-16. USF drops to 6-2 overall, 1-2 NSIC.
 
The Mustangs finished the match hitting .268, including a set-best .389 in the first. SMSU had solid play at the net recording a season-high 13 blocks and also racked up 57 digs and 63 kills.
 
Taylor Reiss paced SMSU with a match-high 22 kills while hitting .306 with 12 digs and five block assists. Kaylee Burmeister added 17 kills and finished with a team-high 15 digs. Sarina Smith added nine kills with one block solo and seven block assists while Brooke Borchardt finished with eight kills and five block assists. Megan Larson dished out a match-high 52 assists and also chipped in with three kills.
 
USF finished the night hitting just .137 including .188 in set two and -.111 in set four.
 
SMSU trailed just once in the opening set before using a 10-4 run to build at 13-8 lead and never looked back in earning the 25-16 win.
 
SMSU hit just .200 in set two as USF built an 11-5 lead and held the advantage the remainder of the set to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Set three was a back-and-forth affair before SMSU pulled out the key set of the match. SMSU trailed 19-17 before reeling off three straight points to take a 20-19 lead. The Mustangs would later have two chances to win the set, leading 24-23 and 25-24, but the Cougars fought back both times and eventually had their own set point at 26-25. A USF service error tied the set at 26, before kills by Burmeister and Borchardt gave SMSU the thrilling set win.
 
SMSU jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the set four and never looked back in improving to 3-0 in road matches this season.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues road play this Friday night taking on Bemidji State starting at 6 p.m. The Mustangs conclude the weekend with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday at Minnesota Crookston.