#6 Wayne State 3 Northern State 0

            Wayne State College used a .303 hitting percentage to beat Northern State 25-18, 25-19, and 25-17 in NSIC volleyball action Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. The NCAA Division II sixth-ranked Wildcats improve to 13-2 overall and 7-1 in league play while Northern State falls to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference.
            The two teams traded blows in the back-and-forth first set until Wayne State took command.   With the score knotted up 12-12, the Wildcats went on an 8-1 scoring surge to take a 21-13 advantage. The set had 10 ties and three lead changes and the 'Cats took the first by a score of 25-18.
            Sophomore outside hitter Kelsie Cada had the hot hand in the first set for the Wildcats with five kills followed by Maggie Brahmer with four.
            The Wildcats opened the second set scoring the first four points to force an early Northern State timeout.  The Wolves rallied from the early deficit and got within two of WSC at 15-13, but the 'Cats capped a quick run with back-to-back kills from Brahmer to grab an 18-14 lead and force another Wolve timeout. 
            WSC capped the second set with a service ace by Cada to win 25-19. Cada had five kills to lead a balanced WSC attack in the second set win followed by Elly Larson and Jaz DeHaan with three apiece.
             Wayne State jumped out to an early lead 8-3 and never trailed in the set. NSU got as close as three at 18-15, but the 'Cats scored five of the next six points to regain control for a 23-16 lead and finished the set 25-17 to complete the sweep.
            Wayne State hit .303 in the match while holding the Wolves to just a .179 attack percentage. The 'Cats held a 47-37 advantage in kills and 55-53 edge in digs.  Both teams had six blocks and two service aces while NSU had eight service errors to just four on the Wildcats.
            Cada paced a balanced Wildcat attack with 12 kills followed by DeHaan and Brahmer with 11 each.  Elly Larson contributed eight kills on just 11 attacks and one error for a .636 attack percentage.
            Brahmer had five blocks followed by Larson with four.  Libero Alaina Wolff accounted for 13 digs with Jessie Brandl adding 11 and sophomore setter Rachel Walker recorded 44 set assists.
            Wayne State will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting MSU Moorhead at 1 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.