ABERDEEN, S.D. - The seventh-ranked Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs notched a 3-1 win over Northern State Wednesday night at Wachs Arena, 30-25, 25-30, 30-18, and 30-19. SMSU tallied 77 kills and 14.5 blocks on their way to their 19th win of the season. They are now 19-4 overall with a 10-1 league mark. The Wolves are 11-10 overall and 6-7 in the NSIC.
The Wolves battled the Mustangs throughout the first two games and had just one less kill than their opponent after two games. The teams traded wins with final scores of 30-25 in the first two games. The Wolves hit .280 with 19 kills in the second game, opening the game with a 10-4 run. The Mustangs caught up at the midpoint of the game, but the Wolves pushed through with an aggressive offense and took the game 30-25.
The Mustangs came out of the break and posted match high hitting figures, hitting over .311 in the final two games combined. Their blocking game also picked up and they frustrated Wolves hitters for the duration of the dual. The Wolves forced numerous long rallies but were unable to overcome the SMSU pressure.
Northern State had three players finish in double figures for kills.
Jill Rasmussen and
Emily Knaeble had 15 kills each, while
Kelsey Aden added 14. Rasmussen and Aden led the team with three blocks each.
Megan Gilbraith assisted on 39 of NSU's 56 kills. The Wolves reached the century mark in digs with 100 on the night.
Stephanie Nygaard topped all players with 31.
Southwest Minnesota State was led by Erin Contons with 18 kills. Contons broke the NCAA DII career attack attempt record Wednesday evening. She currently has 6,128 career attempts, which puts her over the previous NCAA record of 6,091.
The Mustangs received 17 kills from Leah Ashburn and 13 from Tricia Ingvalson, who hit .400 in the match. Sara Graf had 65 assists and the SMSU defense was led by Contons with 21 digs. The Mustangs had 14.5 blocks against the Wolves, including seven each from Krystal Schwanke and Ashburn. They tallied 105 digs.
The Wolves travel for a non-conference match against South Dakota this Saturday. The game is set for a 7:00 pm start. NSU will return to NSIC action next Wednesday as they play the University of Mary on the road.
