Box Score

DENVER, Colo. – The No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (6-1) advanced to the Colorado Premier Challenge championship tonight with a four-set victory (25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-16) over No. 5 Lewis (Ill.) (6-1) this afternoon.The Mustangs were the winner of their pool on Friday to advance to the gold bracket to play Lewis (Ill.), the winner of their collective pool. The Mustangs will face Concordia-St. Paul in the championship at 8 p.m. CDT at Regis Fieldhouse tonight. This is the second consecutive year SMSU and CSP will face each other in the championship match. SMSU finished in second place in 2007, 2010, 2016, and 2018, and were the champions in 2017. This is the Mustangs sixth championship match appearance.
 
The Mustangs help the Flyers to a .176 hitting percentage while SMSU maintained a .244 hitting percentage to send the Mustangs to the championship. 
 
Angela Young led the match with 21 kills while Meg Schmidt added 17 and Jenna Walczak added nine. 
 
Lydia Sussner led the Mustangs at the night with seven blocks while SMSU's defense was led by Rachel Fink and Payton Hjerleid who each contributed 14 digs. 
 
Emma Thomssen and Alisa Bengen also recorded 29 assists each. 
 
The Flyers proved their national ranking continuously throughout the set as the Mustangs held them at bay in the first set with only a one-point lead at the end of set one before Walczak was able to help the Mustangs pull ahead for the set one victory. 
 
Lewis came back strong in the second set to continue tying the set up and even extending the set before Lewi's Collen Wilhelm, who led the Flyers offensively with 14 kills in the match, went for back-to-back attacks to gain the Flyers the set two victory. 
 
Once again in set three, the Flyers tied the set up at 23-23 as Schmidt and Walczak both made the efforts offensively to end the set. 
 
Throughout the match, the Mustangs utilized strong net-play to hold the Flyers at bay. While Sussner led the match with seven, Walczak contributed four and Schmidt added two. The Mustangs also finished with a match-high .261 hitting percentage in set-four as they secured their spot in the championship match. 
 
The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (6-1) will face Concordia-St. Paul (5-2) in the championship match tonight at 8 p.m. CDT. This is SMSU and CSP's second consecutive year facing off in the title match. The Golden Bears are the Colorado Premier Challenge reigning champs.