#16 Minnesota State 3 #1 Wayne State 1
NCAA Division II 16th-ranked Minnesota State handed #1 ranked Wayne State College its first loss of the season Friday night in Northern Sun Conference volleyball played in Mankato, Minnesota as the host Mavericks outlasted the Wildcats 3-1 by scores of 25-17, 17-25, 35-33 and 25-23. Minnesota State is now 12-4 overall and 4-4 in the NSIC while Wayne State is now 16-1 and 7-1 in league play.
The host Mavericks jumped on the Wildcats early in the first set, taking a 6-1 lead and forcing WSC head coach Scott Kneifl to take timeout. The Wildcats never got closer than three points in the first set as Minnesota State pounded out 19 kills to take the opening set 25-17. WSC came back strong in the second set and used 16 kills with just two attack errors to hit .280 and record a 25-17 win to even the match at one set apiece.
The third set saw WSC take the lead early, holding several four point leads at 9-5 and 14-10. The Wildcats still held a 23-20 lead following a kill by Mindy Moody and took a 24-22 lead on a Tali Fredrickson kill to get to set point. But the Mavericks used two WSC attack errors and a kill by Chelsea Fogarty to take their first lead of the set at 25-24. The two teams then traded points and tied at 33-33 Minnesota State used kills by Fogarty and Amanda Beekman to outlast the Wildcats 35-33 in the fourth set.
The fourth set saw Minnesota State lead the entire set, building a six point lead at 20-14. With the Mavericks leading 22-17, WSC scored five straight points, highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Leigh Connot, to tie the set at 22-22. However, the Mavericks scored three of the next four points to close out the Wildcats, winning the fourth set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
Minnesota State outhit Wayne State in the match .214-.170 and had a 78-56 advantage in kills over the Wildcats, but WSC had 10 fewer attack errors 29-19 than the Mavericks. Minnesota State had 120 digs to 100 for WSC.
Individually for WSC, senior All-American middle hitter Jennifer Hefner had 16 kills for the Wildcats followed by Mindy Moody with 12 and Tali Fredrickson 10. Junior libero Leigh Connot accounted for 31 digs while Fredrickson added 27 and senior setter Diedra Artz handed out 46 set assists.
For Minnesota State, Amanda Beekman had 23 kills and 20 digs followed by Megan Ysker with 21 kills. Samantha Dale recorded 31 digs while Brittany Stamer was credited with 67 set assists.
Wayne State concludes their NSIC road Saturday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. contest at 3rd-ranked Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota. The match will be televised live by Midcontinent Communications and the Midco Sports Network, available on cable systems throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The match will be carried on Wayne Cable Channel 98, the local access channel on the American Broadband cable system in Wayne.
