MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 7 ranked Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team used 23 kills from Meg Schmidt, while Alisa Bengen dished out 51 assists to earn a dramatic come-from-behind five-set victory over No. 4 ranked St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon inside the PE Gym.
 
SMSU, which lost in five sets to No. 9 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night, won today's match 25-17, 17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 18-16.
 
Both offenses were on fire, with SMSU finishing with a .301 hitting percentage, while SCSU hit .291.
 
SMSU, which improves to 14-2 overall, 6-2 NSIC, closed the match with 64 kills, while SCSU, which drops to 14-2 overall, 6-2 NSIC, recorded 72 kills.
 
Saari Kuehl and Emma VanHeel each recorded 10 kills for the Mustangs, while Bengen finished with seven and four digs to go along with her 51 assists.
 
The defense was anchored by Karli Arkell, who led with a career-high nine blocks, while Natalee Rolbiecki recorded nine digs, and Rachel Fink, Abby Meister, and McKenzie Tolk recorded eight digs apiece.
 
Phebie Rossi led the Huskies with 25 kills with teammate Emma Berran adding 59 assists.
 
SMSU jumped to a 14-6 lead early, turning that into a 22-15 lead before swapping points the rest of the way to take set one.
 
SCSU countered with a fast start of their own in set two, leading 11-6 early and never trailing in the set to even the match at 1-1.
 
Set three was a back and forth affair, with neither team leading by more than three points early on. Leading 20-18, the Huskies took control, scoring five of the final six points to take a 2-1 lead.
 
In set four, SMSU jumped to a 4-0 lead on the strength of two kills and a block. SCSU charged back with eight of the next 10 points. The game would balance out at 21-21, but four of the final five points would lean in favor of SMSU to send the match to a fifth set.
 
SCSU opened set five with a 6-5 lead, but SMSU scored three consecutive points to head into the switch with an 8-6 lead. The Huskies looked to grasp control, leading 14-11, but the Mustangs fought back with three points to tie the match at 14-14. SCSU turned that into a 16-15 lead, but a VanHeel kill, block by Bengen and Arkell, and an Arkell kill closed out a five set victory.
 
SMSU continues home action on Tuesday night taking on the University of Sioux Falls with start time set for 6 p.m.