#8 Wayne State 3 #2 Southwest Minnesota State 0

            #8 Wayne State used 13 kills each from senior Elizabeth Gebhardt and junior Alyssa Frauendorfer while hitting .317 as a team to propel the Wildcats in a 3-0 Northern Sun Conference volleyball sweep Saturday afternoon at the PE Gym in Marshall, Minnesota.  Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-14 and 25-19.  WSC is now 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC while SMSU slips to 8-2 and 1-1 in the NSIC.
            The Wildcats set the tone early in the match that saw just three ties and no lead changes the entire day.  WSC took a 9-4 lead and forced an SMSU timeout.  After the Mustangs got within two at 17-15, Gebhardt notched back-to-back kills to put the Wildcats up 19-15 and WSC went on to the 25-19 set win.
            The second set was close early.  With WSC holding a 9-8 lead, the 'Cats used a solo block from Gebhardt and a kill by Frauendorfer to take an 11-8 lead.  The 'Cats then used a pair of Gebhardt service aces and a kill from Leisa McClintock to take a 14-8 lead and WSC pulled away for a 25-14 set win for a 2-0 lead in the match.
            Wayne State took a 4-0 lead early in the third set, but the host Mustangs rallied to knot the score at 8-8.  Courtney VanGroningen then served a pair of aces along with an Alex Opperman kill that forced SMSU to take a timeout as WSC built an 11-8 lead.
            The Wildcats pushed the lead to 15-9, but the Mustangs made one last rally and got within two at 21-19 to force a Wayne State timeout.  WSC responded as Frauendorfer and Michaela Mestl each recorded two kills to finish the match giving Wayne State the 25-19 set win for a 3-0 match victory.
            Wayne State posted an impressive .317 attack percentage in the win, recording 41 kills with just eight attack errors.  SMSU had 36 kills in 116 attacks with 17 errors for a .164 hitting percentage.
            The Wildcats had two more digs than SMSU, 53-51, and out-blocked the Mustangs 8-2.  WSC also had seven service aces in the win while the Mustangs recorded three.
            Frauendorfer had 13 kills, no attack errors and a .650 attack percentage to lead Wayne State in hitting while Gebhardt was right behind with 13 kills, one attack error and a .500 hitting percentage. 
            Senior Katie Hughes had a team-high 13 digs followed by Michaela Mestl and Courtney VanGroningen with 11 apiece.  Alex Opperman led WSC in blocks with four while Gebhardt finished with three service aces.  Senior setter Leisa McClintock was credited with 30 set assists in the win. 
            Wayne State will be at home on Tuesday evening, hosting #25 Augustana in a NSIC match starting at 7 p.m.