Winona, Minn. – The No. 2 Northern State University volleyball team battled with Winona State, recording a 3-2 victory over the Warrior homecoming weekend. The Wolves fell in the first and fourth sets, 25-12 and 25-22, but recorded 25-16, 25-22, and 15-8 victories in sets two, three, and five. NSU improves to 18-1 overall and 10-1 in the NSIC, sitting atop the league standings.
Northern combined for a match high 75 kills, 68 assists, and 85 digs in the win. They added seven service aces, and 5.0 blocks, while hitting .345. Defensively, the Wolves forced 19 attack errors and held the Warriors to a .266 hitting percentage.
Laura Snyder was running on all cylinders for NSU with a team high 22 kills and .500 hitting percentage. The sophomore suffered just one attack error and added four digs.
Hailey Busch followed with 17 kills of her own, as well as 13 digs, one assist, and one block.
Morgan Baufield was second on the team hitting .429 with ten kills, followed by
Sally Gaul with a .370 attack percentage with 11 kills.
Jenna Reiff was the final Wolf in double figures with 12 kills, hitting .286.
Ashley Rozell paced the offense to attack percentage above .300 for the first time since the September win over Minnesota Crookston. The junior tallied 61 total assists, averaging 12.2 per set, with nine digs, one block, three kills, and a team high three service aces.
Jaiden Langlie led the Wolves defense for the second straight contest with 25 total digs. The junior also added five assists, as well as two aces.
Lexi Boesl was second on the defensive front with 15 digs, while
Alyssa Deobler made her first appearance of the season, recording ten digs. Gaul led the team at the net with three total blocks, followed by Baufield and Reiff with two apiece.
The Wolves return to action for a midweek road contest at MSU Moorhead at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening. They then return home next Friday at Saturday versus Wayne State and Augustana. Match start is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday Wachs Arena, with the Saturday contest versus the Vikings dubbed as Pink Night sponsored by Sanford Health.
