No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State Rallies for Five-Set Victory over Colorado School of Mines
MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 1 seeded Southwest Minnesota State rallied to keep its season alive with a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 8 seed Colorado School of Mines in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament in Marshall. SMSU won the match by scores of 21-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-12, 15-9.
SMSU, making its seventh straight NCAA appearance and eighth overall, is now 27-3 overall and has won 10 straight matches and 17 of their last 18 overall. CSM ends its season at 19-10 overall after appearing in its second straight NCAA tournament and third overall.
Devin Diedrich racked up a career-high 29 kills to pace SMSU and ended the match hitting .421. Mary Groth added 17 kills, while Brooke Burmeister added 15 kills. Cara Carson helped lead the Mustang offense with 60 set assists.
Jackie Stabell led CSM with 15 kills, while teammate Amanda Massey finished with 48 set assists.
SMSU will now advance to the region semifinals tomorrow night taking on No. 4 seed Nebraska-Kearney at 7:30 p.m.
NOTES & QUOTES
Colorado School of Mines
Head Coach Jamie Skadeland on her team’s performance…
“We definitely have to be happy about the way our team played. First and foremost I think we had the feeling that we had nothing to lose. We were just going to go out there and battle. It takes limited errors and a solid passing to beat a team like Southwest. “
Skadeland on meeting SMSU for the second time this season…
“We knew we needed to be in system—we needed to pass. When we were passing and in system, we were scoring. As soon as our passing broke down there was a huge difference in the match.”
Skadeland on her team’s defensive performance…
“What comes down to is us going and being great blockers by taking away certain areas of the floor and digging around that. That’s always the goal walking into a match against a team like (SMSU).”
Sophomore outside hitter Jackie Stabell on having a lead over SMSU…
“We knew that we could hang with them, and we knew that we could win. It was more of a feeling that we’re not here to just play, we’re here to beat somebody.”
Senior outside hitter Elizabeth Serra-Hsu on the mindset entering the match…
“We came into the match ready to go. We wanted to make our presence known at this tournament. We played like we had nothing to lose tonight. And that’s how we wanted to play.”
Serra-Hsu on breaking down SMSU’s defense…
“We knew that serving them out of system and putting them in a position where they had to put the ball back on the net passing was going to be a key part tonight. I think that our serving came in big tonight. They had to set players they weren’t used to setting.”
Southwest Minnesota State
Head coach Terry Culhane on winning the opening-round match…
“It certainly wasn’t easy. Mines did a great job of playing hard and making things difficult for us. I thought our kids did a nice job persevering and battling. Anytime you go into Game 5, it’s a tough deal.”
Culhane on losing the first set…
“They played really well offensively. We made it too easy for them. We didn’t do a good job of blocking. Our back row play was very suspect. We didn’t play with the effort that was needed to win at this level.”
Sophomore middle blocker Diedrich on her career-high 29 kills…
“I was just happy to win that game. I wasn’t really worried about how many kills I got. I was obviously happy I was playing well offensively, but I have to give a lot of the credit to our back row and Cara.”
Junior setter Cara Carson on trailing 2-1…
“Whenever we’re in the huddle we talk about winning the next game. We need to just let the past be the past. We need to focus on the game at hand.”
Sophomore middle blocker Mary Groth on CSM’s blocking defense…
“As hitters we need to see that block and hit around it. They did a good job of getting touches on blocks. We just have to work around that and keep swinging.”
Groth on playing the final match of the day…
“I thought it helped me because I had the whole day to focus on the game. Once you start playing you let it all out.”
