MARSHALL, Minn. - The No. 14-ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (16-4 overall, 8-4 NSIC) kicked off their weekend in style, defeating Minnesota State University (11-9, 6-6) 25-15, 25-15, 25-16 on Friday night in the PE Gym.
 
Angela Young led the offensive onslaught, with 17 kills to go along with seven digs. Meg Schmidt would pace the offense with 12 kills of her own to go along with 10 assists. Payton Hjerleid's 14 digs and Emma VanHeel's three blocks would set the tone defensively, helping limit the Mavericks to only 23 kills in three sets. Sophie Johnson led the team with 17 assists on the night.
 
Set one saw the two teams split the first 22 points before the Mustangs could turn it up offensively. SMSU would creep to a 15-12 lead before a MSU point, which was followed by a 10-2 run to tame the Mavericks. SMSU would outhit MSU .294-.029 in the set, while recording 15 kills to the MSU eight
 
SMSU scored the first six point of set two, a set that they would never trail. MSU would cut the SMSU lead to 8-4 before three straight Mustang points to climb to an 11-4 lead. The lead would grow throughout the rest of the set, reaching as high as 24-13, before a pair of Maverick points. Schmidt would close out the second set delivering a kill over the stretched arms of MSU to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Mustangs would bring their fire into the third set, as they answered a 1-0 MSU lead with a 10-2 run to go up 10-3. MSU would narrow the lead to 11-7 before three straight SMSU points to double up MSU at 14-7. That lead would eventually dwindle to 17-12, but a 5-0 SMSU run led by three kills from Young would be enough to deflate the energy of the Mavericks, whose three-point stretch when trailing 23-13 would not be enough to overcome a Young kill and Schmidt block to finish business.
 
VanHeel recorded 10 kills on the night, her seventh game in double figures this season, and Alisa Bengen would fill the stat sheet with 12 assists and nine digs to help lift the Mustangs.
 
SMSU dominated the box score, out-hitting MSU .324-.067, out-blocking MSU 7-5, and recording 51 kills to the MSU 23.
 
The Mustangs will finish their weekend Saturday hosting No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul at 2 p.m. inside the PE Gym.