MARSHALL, Minn. – A well-balanced attack led the No. 4 SMSU volleyball team to a sweep over MSU Moorhead 25-15, 25-22, 25-22 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball on Saturday afternoon at the SMSU PE Gym.

SMSU jumps to 13-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play. It is the Mustangs first 4-0 start in NSIC contests since the 2019 season.

MSUM drops to 5-6 overall, 0-3 NSIC.

Leah Jones led the SMSU offense with 15 kills on .379 hitting and a pair of assists, while logging nine digs and an ace on the back line. Ashley Peltier swung for 13 kills on .385 hitting, while Saari Kuehl added 12 kills on .417 hitting. Emma VanHeel rounded out the attack with nine kills on an astounding .571 hitting percentage and a solo block. 

Sydney Thein supported the offense with 41 assists and a pair of kills, while also helping out defensively with a match-high 23 digs. McKenzie Tolk recorded her 1,000th career dig in the win after posting 16 digs.

MSU Moorhead was led by a pair of attackers in Mya Pfeifer and Emily Ramsay with eight kills a piece. Amanda Lisi and Annalise Wilson each set 18 assists to support the offense. Kiara Olesch held down the back line with 14 digs.

SMSU was on fire from the first whistle, using seven kills to boost itself to an 11-2 lead early on. The Dragons turned things around with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to five points, but SMSU never looked back, using kills from Peltier and Jones to swiftly take set one.

The SMSU attack picked up right where it left off, scoring eight of the first 12 points of the second set to lead 8-4 before three kills and an ace for MSUM brought the score to 10-8. The Dragons pushed back against the SMSU attack deep into the second set, trailing 23-22 at one point. Saari Kuehl crushed the attempt at a comeback with back-to-back kills to close out set two.

MSUM came out swinging in set three to lead 5-2, its first lead of the day. SMSU battled back to draw it up at 7-7 before the Dragons again pulled away to 12-9. The Mustangs launched a 5-0 run to take the lead at 14-12 and never looked back in cruising to the win.

SMSU posted 55 kills on a season-high .393 hitting with four total blocks, while MSUM was limited to 40 kills on .231 hitting.

The Mustangs hit the road next weekend for matches against Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State.