#19 Minnesota State 3 #10 Wayne State 1

            #19 Minnesota State rallied to defeat #10 Wayne State 3-1 in Northern Sun Conference volleyball played Tuesday evening at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.  Scores of the match were 28-30, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-18.  The host Mavericks are now 13-7 overall and 6-6 in the NSIC while the Wildcats fall to 15-6 on the season and 8-4 in league play.

            Wayne State captured the first set 30-28 after holding a 24-20 lead.  MSU rallied and scored five straight points and had several set points, but the Wildcats responded from a 28-27 deficit by getting kills from Melanie Placke and Alex Armes followed by a Minnesota State attack error to win the first set 30-28. 

            The Wildcats forced MSU into 11 attack errors in the first set, however, Minnesota State had just 11 attack errors in the next three sets as the Mavericks rallied for the 3-1 win.  WSC held a 15-10 lead in the second set and was still in front 20-17 until MSU came back to tie the second set at 21-21.  With the score tied at 22-22, the Mavericks took advantage of two Wildcat attack errors and a service error to rally for the 25-23 win in the second set.

            Minnesota State used a match-high 19 kills in the third set and scored the final five points to pull away for a 25-17 win and then forced WSC into nine attack errors in the fourth set as the Mavericks downed the Wildcats 25-18 to win the match 3-1.

            The Mavericks held a .231 - .148 hitting advantage over the Wildcats and had 71 kills to 50 for WSC.  Minnesota State also held an 11-6 edge in blocks over Wayne State.

            Junior middle hitter Alex Armes led Wayne State in hitting with 11 kills followed by Tali Fredrickson and Melanie Placke with 10 apiece.  Fredrickson added 27 digs to give her a fifth straight double-double match, raising her season total to 12.  Senior libero Leigh Connot had 22 digs while defensive specialists Nicole Brungardt and McKenna Reagan had 14 and 12 digs respectively.  Sophomore setter Tatum Wroblewski also recorded a double-double with 40 set assists and 19 digs in the loss.              

            Wayne State will be on the road again this weekend, visiting Northern State Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. and the University of Mary Saturday at 6:00 p.m.