#1 Wayne State clinched a second straight Northern Sun Conference volleyball regular season championship Saturday afternoon with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-18 sweep at Bemidji State. It was the 19
th straight win for the Wildcats, now 26-1 and 17-0 in the league while the Beavers move to 8-16 and 5-11 in NSIC play.
The first set saw the Wildcats force 10 Beaver attack errors, holding BSU to a .000 hitting percentage, to post an easy 25-12 set win. WSC had four service aces in the set with two coming from
Havyn Heinz.
The second set was another relatively easy victory for the Wildcats by score of 25-14. WSC hit .393 in the set thanks to five kills each from
Kelsie Cada and
Maggie Brahmer while Cada added two service aces for the 'Cats.
The third set saw WSC lead early followed by a big surge from Bemidji State that gave the home team Beavers a 16-14 lead midway through the set. But the 'Cats rallied and held a block party late with three blocks in the final five points as Wayne State ended with a 25-18 set win to complete the sweep.
After BSU took a 16-14 lead, the 'Cats used a service error by the Beavers followed by two attack errors and a
Channatee Robles service ace to take a 18-16 lead. Another ace out of a BSU timeout put the 'Cats ahead 19-16.
With the score 20-18, WSC used a solo block by
Maggie Brahmer, Cada kill, block by Brahmer and
Rachel Walker, another kill from Cada and a solo block by Brahmer on match point to clinch a second straight NSIC regular season title.
Wayne State hit .341 for the match with 35 kills and just six errors on 85 attacks while BSU was held to a .084 percentage on 31 kills, 22 errors and 107 attacks.
WSC held a 46-40 edge in digs and had a season-high 11 service aces in the win while out-blocking the Beavers 6-2.
Cada led WSC in hitting with 13 kills followed by Brahmer with eight and seven from
Taya Beller. Brahmer had a team-high three blocks, all coming in the final five points of the third set.
Senior libero
Jordan McCormick had 12 digs and setter
Rachel Walker handed out 30 set assists.
Robles had five of Wayne State's 11 service aces with Heinz and Cada adding two each.
The Wildcats close out the regular season at home Saturday afternoon hosting #9 St. Cloud State at 1 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.