Box Score

DENVER, Colo.– The No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (5-1) advanced to the gold bracket on Friday night with a four-set victory over MSU Denver (4-2) to conclude the first round of pool play the Colorado Premier Challenge. 
 
The Mustangs picked up the first two set victories with 25-15 and 25-23 finals before the Roadrunners came back for a 25-18 win to extend the game to the fourth set. The Mustangs would close the match with a kill from Meg Schmidt to end the fourth set, 25-20.  
 
The Mustangs opened the tournament with a five-set victory over No. 9 Tarleton State earlier in the day and with the victory over MSU Denver, the Mustangs will play in the gold bracket tournament tomorrow.
 
The Mustangs recorded a team .240 hitting percentage while holding the Roadrunners to a 162 hitting percentage. 
 
SMSU's Angela Young led the Mustangs offensively and defensively with 13 kills and 15 digs.  Zoe Lier added a career-high 12 kills to aid Young in SMSU's fourth consecutive victory.  SMSU's offensive was aided evenly by the efforts of Alisa Bengen and Emma Thomssen who dished out 31 and 20 assists respectively. 
 
Rachel Fink recorded nine kills while Jenna Walczak, Lydia Sussner, and Schmidt each contributed eight. 
 
SMSU came out in the first set jumping to an early lead with a 4-1 advantage to which they would hold throughout the remainder of the set. 
 
The Roadrunners came out with a 7-3 lead they would hold until they would call timeout with a 20-19 lead. Lier came out to dish out back-to-back kills to make a 21-20 advantage. With a 25-23 lead, Young would lead the Mustangs with two kills to end the second set. 
 
The Mustangs offensive was held back to -.047  hitting percentage in set three as the Roadrunners  would use a .184 hitting percentage to extend the match to set the fourth set. 
 
SMSU responded with a .471 team hitting percentage in the fourth set, capped off by a kill from Schmidt, to rally and end the set, 25-20.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will continue play tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. CDT versus Lewis (Ill.). The other opponents in the gold bracket, Regis and Concordia-St. Paul, face off at 10 a.m. CDT tomorrow. The losers of the first round play at 5 p.m. CDT and the championship match will be played at 8 p.m. CDT.