ST. PAUL - It wasn't exactly the picture-perfect start to the NCAA Division II Tournament, but the No. 2 seeded SMSU volleyball team made enough plays to advance to the regional semifinals after defeating No.7 ranked Metro State (Colo.) 3-1 at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul Thursday.
"We're just happy to be where we're at," SMSU head coach Terry Culhane said. "Our goal coming in was to be able to play on Friday and we're in that position. We certainly have to play better than tonight, but at this point, the biggest thing is being able to advance on and we accomplished that. We'll look at tomorrow as a new day and hopefully we'll have the same result."
SMSU, nationally ranked No. 7, improves to 28-18 on the season, while MSC finishes the year with an 18-10 record.
In the quarterfinal match, the Mustangs struggled offensively at times, especially in the second set loss when they hit just 43 percent. In the final game, SMSU cleaned up the errors and were 13-for-35 hitting for 73 percent and they only committed two hitting errors.
On the flip side, Metro hit well in the second set, but were held to under 57 percent for the last two games.
Three Mustang players eclipsed the double-digit mark as Kasey Loeslie led the way with 12 kills, while Laura Hegerle added 11 and Devin Diedrich 10.
For the Roadrunners, freshmen Emily Greenhalgh and Bri Morley earned a match-high 13 kills apiece. Metro has such a young team that they will return everyone to the squad next season.
"I thought we played very hard," Metro head coach Debbie Hendricks said. "We just had entirely too many errors to be able to win a match of this caliber. But with the heart we showed, the level of energy we gave on the floor and how hard we fought for every point, I couldn't be more proud, especially for such a young team."
In the fourth set, a kill from Diedrich and an ace serve from Sarah Quiram gave the Mustangs a 17-12 lead. But the Roadrunners went on a 4-0 run to get to 17-16 after two kills from Greenhalgh and two SMSU serving errors.
Two points earlier, Culhane requested a time-out and took the team's three seniors aside and spoke separately to the three of them. At 18-16, the Mustangs outscored MSC 8-3 to finish out the match with a 25-18 score.
"As seniors, we're used to this type of atmosphere," said Hegerle. "Playing at Concordia is kind of like playing at home too because we play here often. I thought our team was pretty composed. We were a little uptight at the beginning. But I think we were excited to come to regions this year to see what we can do."
Hegerle was steady in the opening set as she put away five kills in seven swings. With a mere 19-16 edge, SMSU scored four straight points on the way to taking the set 25-18. Taking over where Hegerle left off, Loeslie hammered down three kills and Sara Graf came up with one ace serve in the stretch.
Graf recorded 38 set assists in the match in addition to three ace serves and four kills.
With a 14-all score in the second set, the Roadrunners came to life with a 6-0 surge, taking a 20-14 lead over the Mustangs. Although SMSU committed three hitting errors in that time, the team would not relent so easily.
With a 5-1 surge of their own, the Mustangs got to within one point at 20-19. But after Carson's serving error, MSC cruised to a 25-20 victory.
SMSU held a 9-7 lead in the third set before its offensive power exploded and helped gain a 5-1 edge and a 13-8 lead. The Roadrunners suffered a number of errors in the set, especially service errors.
"I think our kids liked playing somebody different than someone we've played a number of times," said Culhane. "We had to make changes as we went because we didn't really know too much about them. But we enjoyed playing a new team."
SMSU and MSC had not faced each other in competition since 1988 when the Roadrunners swept the Mustangs 3-0.
"The second seed was nice coming into the tournament," said Quiram. But now it's fair game. It's just where they put us and where the bracket falls. From the start of the tournament, rankings don't matter anymore. I think it'll come down to who plays harder and wants to win."
Quiram sparked the Mustang defense with 24 digs, while Lauren Swain added 10.
In the semifinal match today against regionally-seeded No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth, the Mustangs may have to step up their play in they want to advance another day.
"We just weren't very sharp in a lot of things we did today," Culhane said."I've coached long enough to know that a day can make a big difference. I think we're as healthy as we can be with the group of kids we have. I think we're right where we've been most of the year. I'm not a big one for peaking at certain times. We just have good days and bad days. We look at it as tomorrow we're still playing and we'll see a good Duluth team. But we're comfortable with playing them."
SMSU 25 20 25 25
Metro State 18 25 17 18
SMSU STATISTICS
Ace Serves: Sara Graf 3, Cara Carson 3, Laura Hegerle 2, Sarah Quiram.
Kills: Kasey Loeslie 12, Hegerle 11, Devin Diedrich 10, Carson 7, Maggie Geske 5, Graf 4.
Digs: Quiram 24, Lauren Swain 10, Hegerle 9, Brittany Wenzel 8, Carson 7, Graf 5.
Set Assists: Graf 38.
Blocks (solo-assisted): Hegerle 1-2, Diedrich 1-1, Carson 1-0, Loeslie 0-1.