Box Score #1 Minnesota Duluth 3 #9 Wayne State 1

            #9 Wayne State's rally from a 2-0 set deficit fell just short of going to a fifth set Friday evening against #1 Minnesota Duluth as the Bulldogs held off the Wildcats 26-24 in the fourth set to win the match 25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 26-24 in Northern Sun Conference volleyball played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Bulldogs remain unbeaten at 21-0 and 13-0 in the NSIC while WSC slips to 16-6 and 7-6 in league play.
            The first set saw the two teams battle to 11 ties and five lead changes until UMD used a late charge to win the first set 25-21.  Wayne State's final lead of the set was 19-18 following a kill from Tarrin Beller.  UMD then scored four straight points to go in front 22-19.  After WSC got kills from Alyssa Frauendorfer and Alex Opperman to pull within 22-21, the Bulldogs closed the set with three straight points for the 25-21 set win.
            WSC never led in the second set as the Bulldogs pounded out 20 kills while hitting .366 in the second set for a 25-17 win.
            Wayne State started clicking in the third set as the 'Cats produced 13 kills and just one attack error while forcing six UMD errors for a 25-17 set win.  WSC built an early 10-6 lead, but UMD reeled off four straight points to force a WSC timeout tied at 10.  The Wildcats came up with a Michaela Mestl ace and Bulldog attack error to go in front 14-11 and took a 17-13 lead to force a UMD timeout.  WSC then pulled away late in the set and posted a 25-17 set win.
            The Wildcats trailed most of the fourth set, but rallied late and took their first lead of the set at 22-21 on a solo block by Tarrin Beller.  A Beller kill gave WSC its final lead at 23-22.  UMD then scored back-to-back points for a 24-23 lead, but WSC tied the score at 24 on a kill from Frauendorfer.  The Bulldogs then closed out the set with a pair of kills to hang on for the 26-24 set win and take the match 3-1.
            Minnesota Duluth hit .240 in the match compared to .180 for the Wildcats.  UMD held a 66-45 edge in kills and 101-65 on digs while WSC outblocked UMD 12-5.  UMD had one more service ace than WSC 7-6.
            Erin Gross led Wayne State in kills with 14 followed by Alyssa Frauendorfer with 10.  Freshman libero Haley Kauth had 24 digs followed by Michaela Mestl with 16 and Bree Ackermann 10.  Frauendorfer paced WSC at the net with six blocks followed by Opperman and Gross with four apiece and setter Megan Gebhardt handed out 38 set assists.
            Wayne State will be at home again Saturday hosting St. Cloud State in a 4 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.