MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team displayed its true resilience Tuesday evening, fending off an offensive surge by Augustana to win in five sets in non-conference volleyball at the SMSU PE Gym.
The Mustangs are now 8-4 in five-set matches under
Tyler Boddy. The Mustangs push their record to 11-0 overall, while the Vikings drop to 6-5.
Leah Jones led the Mustang attacking crew this evening, posting a match-high and tying her career-high with 18 kills in the win.
Saari Kuehl followed with 15 kills and three block assists in support, while
Karli Arkell and
Ashley Peltier each tallied 12 kills in their efforts.
Sydney Thein did what she does best tonight, posting a career-high 56 assists in the setter role, while tallying three kills, 20 digs, and a pair of blocks.
McKenzie Tolk anchored SMSU defensively, bumping 23 digs and grabbing two service aces on the back line. Tolk also dished five assists in the win.
Set one saw the Mustangs jump out to a 9-4 lead early before a spark on the Bulldogs end pushed the score back to a near-even 10-8 in favor of SMSU. The Mustangs responded with eight-straight points before later pursuing a 3-0 to hold off the Vikings and take set one.
AU jumped out to a 10-4 lead in set two before SMSU rattled off five consecutive points to nearly even the score at 10-9. Both teams used another set of 5-0 runs to battle the score 19-18. SMSU recorded five of the last six points with kills from Kuehl and VanHeel to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead.
Set three saw a swing in momentum for the AU camp. A Mustang killing-spree driven by attacks from Jones and Arkell sparked an SMSU lead at 7-2. Augustana responded by scoring the next five points to tie the game at 7-7 before eight more tie scores eventually saw SMSU take the lead at 24-23. The lead did not last long, as the Vikings captured the final three points to cut the lead to 2-1. Back-and-forth play led to seven lead changes and 12 tie scores in set three.
The fourth set was neck-and-neck up until the 38th set point. After the score settled at 19-17, AU would go on a 4-0 mini run to go up by six. SMSU scored the following three points, but the effort was stalled there, as the Vikings used a pair of kills to wrap up the set and tie the match.
SMSU came out swinging in the final set, taking a four-point lead and holding onto an 8-4 advantage at the switching of sides. Augustana battled back to a 14-14 tie before a kill from
Leah Jones and AU attacking error sealed the match.
UP NEXT
SMSU resumes NSIC play at home this weekend, taking on Northern State on Friday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m., before hosting MSU Moorhead the next day at 2 p.m.
