WINONA, Minn. – The No. 7-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team concluded its regular season on Saturday afternoon, claiming a 25-22, 25-23, 25-16 victory over Winona State at the McCown Gymnasium.
 
SMSU advances to 23-5 overall with a 15-5 record in the NSIC while WSU falls to 12-15 overall and 8-12 in the NSIC.
 
SMSU, which hit .258 in the match, were led by Meg Schmidt, who paced the offense with 13 kills. Saari Kuehl tallied 10 kills of her own, while Brooklyn Kusler (9), Katelyn Nichols (8), Alisa Bengen (6), and Karli Arkell (3) all recorded kills.
 
Bengen paced the offense with 37 assists, while adding eight digs and a block.
 
Rachel Fink led at the service line with three aces and added 10 digs. Natalee Rolbiecki led with 15 digs, while Abby Meister collected 10 digs of her own.
 
Arkell was a force at the net, recording a game-high six blocks, while Schmidt had five blocks and Nichols picked up four blocks.
 
The Mustangs began breaking away with set one after the Warriors tied the match at 5-5, inching their lead up to four at 14-10. The teams each collected runs of three points, sandwiching split points to give SMSU an 18-14 lead. WSU closed the gap to 22-21, but the Mustangs scored three of the final four points to secure a set one win.
 
The Warriors looked in control of the second set, leading 20-15 in the later stages. Kuehl started a comeback, recording back-to-back kills to start a 4-0 run to inch SMSU within one at 20-19. WSU still held a lead at 23-21, but a trio of Kusler kills and a service ace from Meister capped the comeback and game the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
 
SMSU trotted out to an 8-3 lead early, and after WSU marched back to trail by one at 9-8, SMSU jumped back out by five points at 17-12. The teams would trade points to 20-15 before the Mustangs would say enough. Scoring five of the final six points, with two kills by Bengen and two kills from Arkell capping off the run and the victory.  
 
WSU was led by Madison Larson, who finished with 13 kills. The Warriors hit .134 and had seven blocks.
 
SMSU will be back in the NSIC Tournament for the second consecutive season, and will await the official tournament match-up announcement from the conference later this evening.