PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team opened the second day of the Springhill Suites Invitational with a bang, sweeping Wheeling (W. Va.) 25-21, 25-17, 25-18 on Saturday.
Brooklyn Kusler led the way for the Mustangs, recording a game-high 16 kills and four digs while hitting a personal-best .536 (16-1-28), with Saari Kuehl and Karli Arkell pitching in eight and nine kills respectively to support the attack. Alisa Bengen set up the Mustang offense with 35 assists, while McKenzie Tolk's 13 digs and combined five blocks for Kusler, Arkell, Leah Jones, and Emma VanHeel led the defense.
SMSU concluded the match with a whopping .396 hitting percentage, while limiting Wheeling to just a .226 percentage. The Mustangs collected 49 kills with only nine errors on 101 total attempts to help lead them to victory. SMSU additionally captured all nine service aces in the match.
With help from a pair of Kuehl kills, the Mustangs galloped to a 9-6 lead to open set one. A pair of WU points were followed by six straight points from SMSU to give the Mustangs an 15-8 lead. After WU closed the gap to 20-14, Kusler and Bengen began to deal, delivering two kills and a block in another 3-0 SMSU run to take a 23-14 lead. Leading 23-19 before the Mustang timeout, kills by Kusler and VanHeel finished the set and gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
After the Cardinals battled to open set two 5-5, the Mustangs stormed ahead, scoring 7 of the next 8 points to take a commanding 12-6 lead. After WU cut the Mustang lead to 20-14, the Mustangs captured five of the next eight points to take a 2-0 lead into set three.
Both teams opened the third set scoring four points each and were essentially knotted up throughout the first half of the set. As the score approached 10-10, the Mustangs pushed the pedal to the metal, fueling a 10-3 run backed by a Kusler killing spree. Four kills and an error on Wheeling drove the Mustangs to 25 points to secure the win over the Cardinals.
SMSU has now won back-to-back matches against the Cardinals, with competition between the two dating back to 2014. The Mustangs will take on tournament co-host University of West Florida at 4:30 p.m. later this afternoon.
