ABERDEEN, S.D. - The Northern State volleyball team responded from a three-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over the University of Mary on Saturday afternoon at Wachs Arena. It was important win for the Wolves (8-5, 3-2 NSIC), who entered the match tied with U-Mary (5-5, 2-3 NSIC) in the NSIC standings. The Wolves continue their homestand with conference games against MSU Moorhead and Concordia-St. Paul next weekend.

Kayla Ysteboe (R-Fr., OH, Grand Forks, N.D.) had her finest match yet as a Wolf, posting a career high 12 kills while hitting .235. Kelsey Aden (Jr., MB, St. James, Minn.) and Stephanie Perez (So., S/RS, Rio Piedras, PR) each added nine kills. The Wolves improved their hitting average to .182 on the match. The Perez sisters split the majority of the setting duties, with Stephanie finishing the match with 20 assists and Melanie (Jr., S/OH/RS, Rio Piedras, PR) adding 11. Stephanie Nygaard (Jr., L, Milbank, S.D./Dakota State) led the defensive effort with 23 digs, one of four NSU players with double figures in digs. The Wolves had 7.5 team blocks, including four assists each from Aden and Melanie Perez.

All three games of the match were relatively close in score until the midpoint of the game, at which point the Wolves took off on streaks to gain the edge. NSU went on a 9-1 run to end the first game, a 10-5 run to end the second game, and scored seven unanswered points to finish off the match. The Wolves remained consistent on offense throughout each game, but the Marauders struggled to put the ball in the court as the games wore on. Another strength for NSU was their serving. They aced UM passers nine times in the match, including three aces from Nygaard.

The Marauders were led by Tatiani Santos with 11 kills, Kendra Hobbs with 32 digs, and Laci Murtha with seven block assists. Kristin Collins assisted 37 of UM's 40 kills. The team hit just .065 in the match, but was impressive at the net, gaining ten team blocks.