Bemidji State 3 #8 Wayne State 1
Bemidji State shocked #8 Wayne State College 3-1 in Northern Sun Conference volleyball Saturday afternoon in Bemidji, Minnesota by scores of 25-18, 6-25, 26-24 and 25-16. WSC falls to 18-4 and 9-4 in the NSIC while the host Beavers are now 6-15 and 3-10 in league games.
The host Beavers came out strong on the Wildcats in the first set, hitting .394 with 16 kills and just three errors to take the opening set 25-18. WSC struggled with eight attack errors and hit just .143 to start the match.
Wayne State came storming back in the second set and dominated with a 25-6 set win. The 'Cats had seven service aces in the set, led by
Hope Carter with four, while holding Bemidji State to just five kills and a -.125 attack percentage with eight errors.
Bemidji State battled back in a tightly contested third set that featured 14 ties and five lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points in the set. A
Kelsie Cada kill gave WSC a 20-18 lead and forced a Bemidji State timeout. WSC still held a 21-19 lead, but the Beavers rallied and pulled out a 26-24 third set win.
Wayne State got off to a slow start in the fourth set, trailing 6-0. The 'Cats rallied and got within one at 15-14, but Bemidji State ended the WSC rally with four of the next five points for a 19-15 lead and the Beavers pulled away for a 25-16 fourth set win.
Wayne State outhit Bemidji State in the loss .256 to .242. The Beavers held a 55-47 edge in kills and 51-43 in digs while WSC had seven service aces to just three for BSU and WSC had one more block than BSU 9-8.
Senior outside hitter
Katie Stephens led Wayne State with 16 kills followed by
Jaci Brahmer with 10.
Brahmer had five blocks with
Maddie Knobbe adding four.
Kelsie Cada had a team-high 11 digs while
Hope Carter had four service aces. Setter
Rachel Walker was credited with 40 set assists.
WSC will be on the road again Thursday evening facing Augustana in a 6 p.m. contest in Sioux Falls.
