GOLDEN, Colo. – The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team opened the Tyler Boddy era with a bang, sweeping Western Colorado 25-19, 25-14, 25-13 on Friday to open the Colorado School of Mines Classic. 
 
Saari Kuehl led the way for the Mustangs, recording a career-high 12 kills and eight digs while hitting .391, with Katelyn Nichols and Emma VanHeel pitching in eight kills apiece to support the attack. Alisa Bengen set up the Mustang offense with 30 assists, while McKenzie Tolk's 13 digs and VanHeel's eight blocks led the defense. 
 
SMSU concluded the match with a .235 hitting percentage, while limiting Western Colorado to a -.051 percentage. The Mustangs also collected 12 blocks to help lead them to victory. 
 
With help from a pair of Nichols kills, the Mustangs galloped to a 7-4 lead to open set one. A pair of WCU points were followed by a four straight points from SMSU to force a Mountaineer timeout and give the Mustangs an 11-6 lead. After WCU closed the gap to 13-12, Kuehl began to deal, delivering three kills in another 4-0 SMSU run to take a 17-12 lead. Leading 23-19 at the end of the set, kills by Karli Arkell and Bengen finished the set and gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. 
 
After the Mountaineers took an 8-7 lead to open set two, the Mustangs stormed ahead, scoring 12 of the next 14 points and, after WCU cut the Mustang lead to 20-14, the final five points of the set to take a 2-0 lead into set three. 
 
Each team opened the third set scoring 10 of 20 points in the third set, but SMSU asserted dominance the rest of the way. Three kills and three blocks fueled an 8-2 run to take an 18-12 lead, and a dominant finish by VanHeel helped the Mustangs score the final seven points to secure the sweep. 
 
SMSU has now won six of its last seven openers and 16 of their last 18, dating back to 2004. The Mustangs will take on Colorado Christian at 5:30 p.m. CDT to complete the opening day of the Classic.