GOLDEN, Colo. – The No. 22-ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team closed out the Colorado School of Mines Classic defeating Colorado Mesa 12-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13, before upsetting No. 11 Colorado School of Mines 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Mustangs got career high kill totals from Halle Jansen (16), Saari Kuehl (15), Emma VanHeel (14), and Karli Arkell (14) to lead the offensive arsenal in game one. Alisa Bengen recorded a career-high 57 assists, while Natalee Rolbiecki picked up 14 digs. VanHeel led the front line with four blocks, and McKenzie Tolk added nine digs and a pair of aces. 
 
CMU asserted themselves early in set one, scoring 11 of the first 15 points to lead 11-4. SMU scored three of the next four points, but the Mavericks bounced right back, going on a 9-2 run to grow their lead to 22-9. 
 
The next six points were split, giving CMU the early 1-0 lead. The Maverick attack was flawless, recording 15 kills with zero errors, hitting .682 in the set, while SMSU committed nine attack errors, hitting .036 in the set. 
 
The Mustangs scrapped their way through the second set, trailing by as many as four at 11-7 before clawing back and tying the match at 13-13. Seven of the next 10 points went to SMSU to give them a 20-16 lead. 
 
CMU scored the next four points to tie the match at 20-20, but the Mustangs would close the match with five of the final seven points, including the final three points, to tie the match a 1-1. SMSU's attack came to life in the set, hitting .412 with 18 kills and only four errors, while nearly cutting the Mavericks' percentage in half, limiting them to a .385 attack. 
 
The Mavericks took set three, leading wire to wire to take a 2-1 lead. They hit .324 while SMSU hit just .219. 
 
The Mustangs showed their resiliency in set four, racing to a 4-0 lead early, and didn't trail by more than one point for the entire set. SMSU pulled away when leading 17-16, as eight of the next 10 points fell in favor of the Mustangs to force a fifth set. 
 
The fifth set started with runs, with SMSU scoring the first two points, CMU scoring the next four, SMSU scoring two more, CMU scoring four more, and SMSU scoring three in a row to trail 8-7 and force a CMU timeout. After a Mavericks point following the timeout, The Mustangs galloped to the tune of a 6-2 run, going up 13-11, and split the next four points to take the set and the match. 
 
SMSU carried momentum into game two, jumping to a 15-9 lead early in set one and never turning back. Their lead grew to 20-12, and a late charge by Mines wouldn't be enough to overcome the Mustang attack. 
 
Set two saw balance, with neither team able to create separation for 30 points. With the score at 15-15, Mines began to march, scoring four points in a row and taking a 19-15 lead. That run would be enough to take the victory, as the teams would go back to trading points the rest of the set. 
 
The Mustangs took control of set three, leading from start to finish. Mines would run the lead down to two at 16-14, but SMSU would continue to inch farther away from the Orediggers. Mines made one final run, cutting the SMSU lead to 24-23, but Meg Schmidt closed out the set with a kill, giving the Mustangs a 2-1 lead into set four. 
 
Mines showed urgency in the early stages of set four, scoring the first four points and leading 13-8. The Mustangs began chipping away, tying the match five times before finally taking a lead at 19-18. That lead inflated to 24-20, but Mines would fight right back, scoring three straight points to trail 24-23. Jansen called game the next point, recording a kill and elevating the Mustangs to another victory. 
 
Jansen led the attack with 15 kills in game two, hitting .483 in the process. Bengen picked up a career-high 10 kills, hitting .833, collecting 47 assists, and getting 7 digs. Arkell dazzled defensively, swatting eight attacks and added eight kills on the offensive end, while VanHeel tied her career-high from game one, getting 14 kills. Tolk led the backline with 11 digs.
 
SMSU is 4-0 in the Colorado School of Mines Classic for the second consecutive season and will be back in action Sept. 2-Sept. 3 for the Drury/Southwest Baptist Classic in Missouri.