The 15th ranked Wayne State Wildcats took down the University of Minnesota Duluth 26-24, 25-17 and 25-17 Saturday afternoon in the NSIC regular season finale at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC finished the regular season with a 21-7overall record and 14-6 NSIC conference record. The Bulldogs end with an 18-11 overall record and 10-10 league mark.
            Wayne State led the entire first set with narrow margins. The Wildcats allowed only four tie scores in the first set and with the score tied up at 24-24 WSC used two consecutive points and won the first set 26-24 on a kill from redshirt freshman middle hitter Maggie Brahmer who led the 'Cats with four kills and no errors in the set.
            The Wildcats jumped out to an 11-5 lead early in the second frame that forced a Bulldog timeout. WSC allowed Minnesota Duluth to only get within four points the remainder of the set and won the set 25-17. Redshirt freshman middle hitter Taya Beller finished the set for WSC with a kill, one of her team-leading five in the set.
            The two teams exchanged points early in the third set but with the score at 4-4 WSC took the lead for good and won the final set 25-17 on a kill from sophomore outside hitter Elly Larson. Beller had five kills and three blocks to lead WSC in the final frame.
            The 'Cats outhit Minnesota Duluth .315-.210 in the match and had six more kills 47-41. WSC had an advantage in digs over the Bulldogs 48-44 and had five more blocks in the contest 7-2. The 'Cats held a slight advantage in service aces 4-3 over UMD.
Beller led WSC with 12 kills and four blocks while sophomore outside hitter Kelsie Cada added nine kills and three blocks to go along with her team-high 15 digs for the 'Cats. Sophomore setter Rachel Walker had 38 set assists for WSC.
Playing in her final match in Rice Auditorium, defensive specialist Lauren Jacobsen had 12 digs in the contest for Wayne State.
            The Wildcats will compete Thursday at the 2021 NSIC Volleyball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.