Box Score
ABERDEEN, S.D. – No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State defeated No. 7 Northern State in a thrilling five-set victory (19-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 15-13) at the Wachs Arena on Friday night. The victory was the second time SMSU defeated the nationally-ranked NSU this season.
SMSU, then-ranked No. 9, defeated, NSU, then-ranked No. 8 in five sets in Marshall on Sept. 27.
Meg Schmidt delivered a career-high 21 kills to hit .381 with four block assists.
Angela Young added 15 and
Sarina Smith added 12 to aid SMSU's 65 team kills with a .204 hitting percentage.
NSU was led by Laura Snyder with 19 to lead the Wolves to 68 team kills off a .231 mark.
Alisa Bengen paced the Mustang offense with 49 assists and eight digs while Payton Hjelied lead the defensive end with 23 digs.
The Wolves bounced back early in set one and falling to a 3-0 deficit to start the set. A five-point run to create a 6-3 advantage would give NSU the upper-handed needed for the set one victory, despite SMSU tying it up at 13-13. Another five-point run would put the Wolves up as they would take set one, 25-19.
SMSU battled in second set with a locked set at 24-24 before Schmidt delivered a kill and then went back to serve for a service ace to finish the set, 26-24.
An early lead for the Wolves would not knock down the Mustangs as the clawed back from a 7-1 deficit early on. SMSU would attempt to rally and would keep the set within two points although the Wolves would keep the edge for a 25-23 set victory.
The Mustangs utilized a team-high .326 hitting percentage in the match in the fourth set to force the match to the fifth set with a 25-20 victory. In the fifth, the set was tied 12-12 before a kill from
Zoe Lier, who finished with four kills, would come up huge for the Mustangs with a kill to give SMSU a 13-12 lead.
Hjerleid would go back to serve for a service ace to put the Mustangs at set point. With the opportunity to finish the match, SMSU committed an attack error before sealing off the victory with a kill from Young.
Southwest Minnesota State will face MSU Moorhead on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. at the Nemez Fieldhouse before closing the regular season with a homestead, beginning with a 6 p.m. match on Friday, Nov. 15, versus UMary in the PE Gym.
