MARSHALL, Minn. -- The No. 11 ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team bounced back from a loss last Saturday with a convincing 3-0 sweep over Minot State on Friday night inside the PE Gym. SMSU won by scores of 25-6, 25-20 and 25-18.

SMSU used a balanced attack tonight with four players recording seven or more kills. Angela Young led the way with 11 kills and hit .286, while Halle Jansen smacked a career-high eight kills and hit .312. Brooklyn Kusler also added a career-high with seven kills and finished the match hitting .385. Meg Schmidt blasted nine kills and also dished out 21 assists, while Sophie Johnson also shared time at setter and closed with 15 assists. Payton Hjerleid finished with a match-high 17 digs.

Set one was all Mustangs from start to finish. SMSU scored the first six points of the match, highlighted by by a pair of Hjerleid aces before the Beavers would score. After a 3-1 MISU run, SMSU would score six of seven points to expand their lead to 13-4. After a Beaver point to cut the Mustang lead to 13-5, SMSU would rattle off 12 of the next 13 points to take a 25-6 victory. It was the largest margin of victory in a set by SMSU since Oct. 27, 2018, when SMSU took set one from Minnesota State by a 25-6 margin. SMSU hit a season-high .625 in the set, compared to the -.045 percentage by Minot State, and would only make one attack error compared to four from Minot State.

Set two would be a different tune, as Minot State would battle for the entire set. Although SMSU would never trail, Minot State would hold the match within four points up until the set point. SMSU would put an end to the Minot State magic at the end, when a pair of Rachel Fink aces would serve as the finishing blow. SMSU would out-hit Minot State .184-.152 on the set while doubling up the Beavers in kills, 16-8. 

The Mustangs would close out the match in set three. Minot State held strong at 11-9 early on, but a 4-0 SMSU run would give them a lead through the match. The Beavers would cut the score to 15-14, but three straight attack errors would doom the Beavers. SMSU's 10-4 run to end the set would be punctuated by another Fink ace, while a pair of Jansen kills would help start it. SMSU would outhit MISU .318-.0 in the set, while taking advantage of eight attack errors compared to the four made by the Mustangs.

SMSU would end the match outhitting MISU .345-.051, recorded 10 aces compared to the three of the Beavers, and outdug MISU 40-23. 

SMSU improves to 14-2 overall, 6-2 NSIC, while Minot State drops to 0-14 overall, 0-8 NSIC.

Southwest Minnesota State continues home play on Saturday facing UMary starting at 1 p.m.