ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a battle of two Top 10 teams, No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul held on against No. 7 SMSU in a four-set match, defeating the Mustangs by scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, and 25-22.
As a result, SMSU drops to 14-3 overall, and is now 7-2 in the NSIC. CSP increases its overall record to 18-1 and jumps to 9-1 in the NSIC.
Leading the way for the Mustangs tonight was
Leah Jones, who hit a career-high 18 kills in the loss. Jones hit .232 in the match and added two assists and seven digs to her resume.
Saari Kuehl recorded 13 kills on .324 hitting while adding five digs. Supporting the attack was junior
Emma VanHeel, tallying 10 kills of her own, while putting up two block assists and five assists.
SMSU was backed defensively by
McKenzie Tolk, who captured 17 digs and captured three assists. Her defensive counterparts on the floor were
Emily Strasser and
Alisa Bengen. Strasser posted 10 digs on the back line, while Bengen added 14.
Bengen posted 38 assists in her effort, pacing the Mustangs offense. She recorded two block assists and four attacks with no errors for a .500 percentage (4-0-8).
The trio of VanHeel, Arkell, and Peltier put up the Mustang wall tonight. Arkell captured a team-high three blocks, while VanHeel tallied two, and Peltier added one.
CSP showed its strength in the first set, jumping out to an early 8-5 lead. SMSU would answer with a 4-2 mini-run backed by three-straight VanHeel kills to push the score to 10-9. The Golden Bears would counter the Mustangs' run with kills by Katie Mattson and a couple of service aces to push their lead to 16-11, before an SMSU timeout. CSP would run away with the set, taking advantage of SMSU errors and a comfortable attacking crew, eventually taking the set 25-18.
SMSU countered the Golden Bears win with an offensive onslaught in the second set, hitting only one error on 37 attack attempts (20-1-37/.514). CSP posted four attacking errors in the set, which proved to be costly. Arkell and Jones would lead the offensive attack, tallying a combined eight of the 20 Mustang kills in the set. The Golden Bears would fail to take the lead in the set, showcasing the Mustangs' dominance. A kill from
Saari Kuehl secured the set for the Mustangs 25-21.
CSP rallied back in set four, utilizing six SMSU attacking errors to its advantage. The Mustangs were limited to just .100 hitting in the set, securing only 10 total kills. The Golden Bears captured a game-high three service aces in game three, while adding 14 kills. Eventually, CSP would take the set by a score of 25-17, secured with a kill by Jamie Guptill and a Mustang attacking error.
Similarly to game one, CSP would outlast the Mustangs in the final set. The Golden Bears never let off the gas, going on multiple runs in the set. The Mustangs rally attempt was supported by all SMSU players on the floor, with each player notching at least one kill (libero exempt). CSP would eventually win the set by a score of 25-22, putting an end to the 4-2 Mustang run with a kill by Sophia Anderson.
UP NEXT
The Mustangs are back on the road on Saturday, Oct. 14, for a match against Winona State at 11 a.m.
