Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. - Led by four players in double digit kill figures, a career-high 65 assist night from setter Drew Smith, and seven service aces, the Northern State Wolves improved to 4-1 at home and took down their second ranked opponent of the season, taking a 3-2 victory (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12) over No. 19 MSU Moorhead Tuesday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball action.

The win ended a two-match mini skid for the Wolves, who improved to 6-5 overall and picked up their first NSIC win of the season.  NSU now stands at 1-2 in conference play.  The Dragons slipped to 9-3 overall and also stand at 1-2 in the loop.

NSU had to overcome 16 service errors on the night, but used 20 kills from senior Kaleinani Kabalis and another 19 from freshman Kelsey Chambers.  Senior middle blocker Chelsea Chavez chimed in with 13 kills on 25 swings without an error, coming on strong in the final two sets for the Wolves.  Chavez had six of those 13 kills in the final two sets, including two of NSU's final four points in the decisive fifth set.

After trading 25-23 decisions in the first two sets of the night, NSU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the third en-route to a dominant 25-18 victory to take the overall lead two sets to one.  MSU Moorhead fought back and controlled much of the fourth set, but had no answer for the Wolves in the fifth.

NSU pulled away from an 11-11 tie, scoring four of the final five points on two kills from Chavez and one each from Kabalis and freshman Jussy Tuscherer, who came off the bench for 12 kills, including the final nail in the coffin.

Smith, who set her previous career-high in NSU's last match - also a five-set marathon - recorded her first 60+ assist effort in the win.  The freshman also had two aces and eight digs.  Kabalis gave the Wolves an all-around effort.  In addition to her 20 kills, she had three aces, 18 digs and four blocks.

The Dragons were led by 13 kills from Maggie Gruber and another 10 from Annie Palmquist, but could not overcome a determined NSU squad that limited them to just 159 attempts at the net and a .208 attack percentage.  In contrast, the Wolves got 182 swings up front and hit .236 on the night.

The win kicks off a four-match swing against Top 25 teams for NSU, who go on the road this weekend to face No. 12 Minnesota State - whom the Wolves have beaten once already this season - on Friday and No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday.  The Golden Bears are the five-time defending national champions and moved up to the No. 2 slot in the nation from their previous third place ranking last week.  Match time is set for 7 p.m. in Mankato, Minn., on Friday and 4 p.m. in St. Paul on Saturday.