WAYNE, Neb.  – After No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State (11-6, 5-4 NSIC) opened the match to claim the first two sets, No. 11 Wayne State (16-2, 7-2 NSIC) rallied to send the match into a fifth set to go on to claim a five-set victory (21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14, 15-10) over the Mustangs on Tuesday night in Rice Auditorium. 
 
SMSU was led by Angela Young, who recorded a double-double with a match-high 20 kills and 15 digs. Young and the Mustangs were paced by Emma Thomssen with 31 assists and Payton Hjerleid led the defense end with 29 digs. 
 
The Mustangs opened the match with a .378 hitting percentage in set one. The Mustangs held as much as a six-point lead as they glided to a 25-21 set victory. 
 
SMSU kept up the momentum from the opening set as they claimed a 25-22 victory in set two, taking advantage of four-point cushion late in the set. 
 
With two sets under their belt, SMSU struggled to keep up with the strong-offense the Wildcats delivered. Although, SMSU managed to tie the set up at 20-20 later in the third set, before WSC's Kate Stephens, who finished with 11 kills on the night, went for back-to-back kills to push the Wildcats to a 25-21 victory. 
 
WSC dominated the fourth set hitting .450, led by Tarrin Beller, who led the Wildcats with 16 kills, to send the match into a fifth set.  

SMSU locked the fifth set up at 10-10 before committing a ball-handling error which would give WSC a one-point advantage. SMSU attempted to call for a timeout but WSC came out of the timeout to take the next five consecutive points to hold the Mustangs off to earn the fifth-set victory. 
 
This was the Mustangs first five-set defeat this season.  
 
Southwest Minnesota State (11-6, 5-4 NSIC) hosts Bemidji State (5-12, 2-7 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston (4-13, 2-7 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m., both in the PE Gym.