#1 Southwest Minnesota State 3 #16 Wayne State 1

            Top-ranked Southwest Minnesota State overcame 42 attack errors to defeat #16 Wayne State College 27-25, 25-22, 16-25 and 26-24 in Northern Sun Conference volleyball played Thursday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Nebraska.  The visiting Mustangs move to 24-1 overall and 16-1 in the NSIC while Wayne State is now 19-8 on the season and 11-6 in league play. 
            The first set saw WSC jump out to an early 9-4 lead, but the Mustangs rallied and knotted the score at 13-13.  SMSU took a 19-16 lead, but the 'Cats rallied and took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Cori Hobbs.  But the Mustangs got back-to-back kills from Devin Diedrich for a 24-23 lead and SMSU posted a 27-25 win.
            The second set was close as well with WSC using back-to-back kills from Katie Hughes for an 11-9 lead.  SMSU then scored five of the next six points to take a 14-12 lead forcing WSC to call timeout.  After WSC pulled within one point at 17-16, the Mustangs rattled off three straight points for a 20-16 lead and WSC never got closer than two points as the Mustangs won the second set 25-22.
            The third set was tight early until WSC took advantage of 16 attack errors by the Mustangs in the third set to win 25-16.  SMSU held a 13-12 lead midway through the third set, but WSC used four straight SMSU errors to take a 17-13 lead and another run of four straight Mustang attack errors put the set out of reach as WSC won 25-16 to force a fourth set.
            Southwest Minnesota State regained the momentum early in the fourth set jumping out to an early 9-2 lead.  The Mustangs still led 17-11 but WSC made things interesting with a late rally knotting the score at 22-22 on a Melanie Placke block.  The two teams exchanged four points in a row for a 24-24 tie.  But two Wildcat attack errors gave the Mustangs a 26-24 fourth set win to take the match 3-1.
            WSC outhit SMSU .147-.097 with the Wildcats forcing the Mustangs into 42 attack errors compared to just 19 on the Wildcats.  SMSU had 60 kills to 43 for WSC and the Mustangs held a 84-69 edge in digs, but the Wildcats had 16 blocks to seven for the Mustangs. 
            Cori Hobbs registered her 12^th double-double of the season to lead WSC with 15 kills and 16 digs while freshman Katie Hughes also recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs.  Libero Courtney VanGroningen notched a team-high 17 digs while Leisa McClintock handed out 34 set assists.  Junior middle hitter Lexi Malm had nine blocks followed by Hobbs, Alex Armes and Melanie Placke with five apiece.
            For Southwest Minnesota State, Brooke Burmeister had 17 kills and 20 digs with Devin Diedrich accounting for 14 kills and Mary Groth 12.  Rachel Westby had 20 digs while Emilee Gutzmer was credited with 52 set assists and 11 digs.
            Wayne State will be on the road Saturday afternoon visiting the University of Sioux Falls in a 2 p.m. Northern Sun Conference contest.