#11 Wayne State overcame a 20-12 first set deficit to rally for a 25-23 opening set win and used that momentum to post a 3-0 sweep over #22 Minnesota State Friday evening in Northern Sun Conference volleyball at Rice Auditorium in the 18
th annual Black Out Night Match. Scores of the match were 25-23, 25-18, 25-21. WSC improves to 14-3 and 7-1 in the league while the visiting Mavericks slipped to 14-2 and 6-2 in the NSIC.
Visiting Minnesota State was in control of the opening set until a late surge by the Wildcats got WSC a set win. Trailing 20-12 in the set, WSC rallied and scored the next seven points to close within one at 20-19 thanks to six straight points served by sophomore libero
Anna Borner.
After WSC tied the score at 21-21, the Mavericks used a pair of kills to grab a 23-21 advantage. An MSU service error followed by a service aces from
Channatee Robles knotted the score at 23-23. A Wildcat block by
Chloe Hanel and
Delaney Miller gave the 'Cats their first lead of the set at 24-23 and another Robles service ace capped the first set rally for a 25-23 win.
Robles had three kills and a pair of aces in the opening set while Hanel had three kills and three blocks.
The 'Cats never trailed in the second set, jumping out to early leads of 7-2 and 19-11 as WSC cruised to a 25-18 victory. WSC had five service aces in the set and notched 16 kills with a pair of blocks.
Robles had five kills and three more aces in the set while Hanel had five kills with no errors on eight attacks in the second set for WSC.
The third set was much closer with nine ties and three lead changes, but WSC prevailed in the end for a 25-21 set win to complete the sweep.
With the score tied at 14-14, WSC took the lead for good thanks to a kill by
Delaney Miller, MSU attack error and
Laney Kathol kill giving the 'Cats a 17-14 lead and forcing a Maverick timeout. The Mavericks got as close as 23-20 in the final set, but Miller closed the match with a pair of kills for the 'Cats to seal the 3-0 sweep.
Miller's six kills in the final set paced the 'Cats while Hanel and Robles each added four kills.
WSC finished the match with a .263 hitting percentage against the league's top opponent hitting percentage team from MSU that was holding opponents to a .131 percentage. The 'Cats had one more kill than MSU – 45-44 – and held a 56-51 edge in digs. WSC had seven aces to just one for MSU while the Mavericks made nine service errors to just one by the Wildcats. Both teams had six blocks.
Robles led a balanced Wildcat attack by recording her seventh double-double of the year with 12 kills and 10 digs to go with five service aces. Hanel added 12 kills with five blocks while Miller chipped in with 12 kills.
Freshman
Mattie Kamery had a team-leading 14 digs with Borner adding 12. Sophomore setter
Molly Romano contributed 40 set assists with three blocks in the win.
The Wildcats are home again Saturday afternoon hosting #10 St. Cloud State in a NSIC match starting at 5 p.m.
