MINOT, N.D. –The No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team survived a scare on the road, defeating Minot State 17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 26-28, 15-12 on Friday night.
SMSU advances to 16-2 overall with an 8-2 record in the NSIC while MiSU moves to 0-17 overall and 0-10 in the NSIC.
Meg Schmidt kept the Mustangs in the match, picking up a career-high 31 kills on a .453 hitting percentage to lead the charge.
Emma VanHeel added 14 kills to the attack with a .407 percentage.
Natalee Rolbiecki and
Rachel Fink carried the back-line with 38 digs combined, while
Abby Meister added 14 digs and a pair of aces. After missing the first set,
Alisa Bengen delivered, dishing 49 assists and recording nine digs.
After a 4-4 tie, the Beavers took control of set one, leading the rest of the way and led by as many as 11 at 20-9 en route to a 1-0 lead.
MiSU carried momentum into the second set, leading 12-9, but the Mustangs ripped off a 12-2 run, with six consecutive SMSU points coming from kills by Schmidt at one point, to take a 21-14 lead that would not be relinquished.
After three straight points to open set three for the Bevers, the Mustangs took over. An 11-2 run put them up six points at 11-5 and would eventually lead 17-8 in the set. The Beavers chipped away, cutting the lead to just five at 21-16, but the Mustangs rattled off four points in a row to take the decisive third set.
MiSU stormed out of the gate in set four, scoring seven of the first eight points to lead 7-1. SMSU chipped away, leading as late as 18-15, but the Beavers battled back, taking a 22-21 lead. With the Mustangs taking a 25-24 lead, MiSU took control, winning four of the final five points to take the match to a fifth set.
In a back-and-forth affair of a deciding set that would see an 11-11 tie, the Mustangs scored three of the final four points, capped off by a VanHeel kill, to come out on top.
The Mustangs outhit MiSU .261-.180, while recording 16 more kills and 17 more digs, but the Minot front line kept them in the game with nine blocks.
SMSU closes their week with a Saturday afternoon match up at UMary at 2 p.m.
