#8 Wayne State forced 29 Minnesota State attack errors and had three players post 10 or more kills to defeat the host Mavericks in Northern Sun Conference volleyball Saturday afternoon in Mankato, Minnesota.  Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15.  The Wildcats move to 16-3 and 10-1 in the NSIC while Minnesota State is now 13-5 and 5-5 in league play.
            The 'Cats got off to a slow start, trailing 7-2 in the opening set.  Still trailing 10-6, WSC battled to tie the score at 12-12 and took a 15-13 lead following kills from Molly Romano and Taya Beller along with a Minnesota State error. 
            With WSC leading 16-15, the 'Cats scored four straight points to take control of the opening set on a pair of kills from Channatee Robles and back-to-back blocks from Taylor Bunjer and Maggie Brahmer.
            Brahmer had five kills and two blocks to pace Wayne State in the opening set win.  Robles, Beller and Brooklyn Kusler each added four kills as WSC had 18 kills and just one error for a .362 hitting percentage.
            The second set saw the Wildcats take the early advantage at 6-1 and 9-2, forcing the Mavericks into a negative hitting percentage for a 25-15 win.  After WSC built the big lead, MSU closed within four at 13-9.  But WSC used a pair of blocks and a Kusler kill for a 16-9 lead forcing a Minnesota State timeout and the Mavericks never got any closer as the Wildcats finished with the 25-15 set win.
            Kusler had five kills in the set for WSC while setter Molly Romano added two service aces.  WSC forced nine attack errors in the set, holding Minnesota State to a -.042 hitting percentage.
            The third set saw the host Mavericks produce 17 kills to extend the match with a 25-22 win over the Wildcats.
            Beller had five kills for the 'Cats with Brahmer adding four.
            The Wildcats quickly regained momentum in the fourth set, taking a 6-0 lead and building the advantage to 14-3 before finishing with a 25-15 victory to clinch the match 3-1.
            Beller had six kills, three blocks and a service ace to lead the Wildcats in the decisive fourth set.  Setter Molly Romano handed out 12 assists to go with eight digs as WSC held Minnesota State to a .029 hitting percentage forcing eight more errors on the Mavericks.
            Wayne State ended the match with a .257 hitting percentage while MSU hit just .114.  The 'Cats held a 55-49 edge in kills and 90-75 in digs.  WSC had a 9-4 advantage in blocks and had five aces compared to eight for MSU.
            Beller had 17 kills to pace three Wildcats in double figures for kills.  Kusler added 16 with Brahmer at 11.  Beller and Bunjer each produced five blocks.  Senior libero Brooke Peltz accounted for a career-best 34 digs followed by Robles with 18 and Romano 13.  Romano ended with a double-double thanks to 46 assists, 13 digs and two service aces.   
            The Wildcats return to Rice Auditorium Tuesday evening hosting Peru State in a non-conference match starting at 6 p.m.