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SMSU VOLLEYBALL: Mustangs earns ticket to gold bracket with victories over No. 9 Tarleton State, MSU Denver

DENVER, Colo.- The No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (5-1) advanced to the gold bracket on Friday night with a four-set victory over MSU Denver (4-2) to conclude the first round of pool play the Colorado Premier Challenge.

The Mustangs picked up the first two set victories with 25-15 and 25-23 finals before the Roadrunners came back for a 25-18 win to extend the game to the fourth set. The Mustangs would close the match with a kill from Meg Schmidt to end the fourth set, 25-20.

The Mustangs opened the tournament with a five-set victory over No. 9 Tarleton State earlier in the day and with the victory over MSU Denver, the Mustangs will play in the gold bracket tournament tomorrow.

The Mustangs recorded a team .240 hitting percentage while holding the Roadrunners to a 162 hitting percentage.

SMSU’s Angela Young led the Mustangs offensively and defensively with 13 kills and 15 digs. Zoe Lier added a career-high 12 kills to aid Young in SMSU’s fourth consecutive victory. SMSU’s offensive was aided evenly by the efforts of Alisa Bengen and Emma Thomssen who dished out 31 and 20 assists respectively.

Rachel Fink recorded nine kills while Jenna Walczak, Lydia Sussner, and Schmidt each contributed eight.

SMSU came out in the first set jumping to an early lead with a 4-1 advantage to which they would hold throughout the remainder of the set.

The Roadrunners came out with a 7-3 lead they would hold until they would call timeout with a 20-19 lead. Lier came out to dish out back-to-back kills to make a 21-20 advantage. With a 25-23 lead, Young would lead the Mustangs with two kills to end the second set.

The Mustangs offensive was held back to -.047 hitting percentage in set three as the Roadrunners would use a .184 hitting percentage to extend the match to set the fourth set.

SMSU responded with a .471 team hitting percentage in the fourth set, capped off by a kill from Schmidt, to rally and end the set, 25-20.

No. 15 SMSU 3,

No. 9 Tarleton State 2

DENVER, Colo. – The No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (4-1) defeated No. 9 Tarleton State (Texas) (3-2) in a five-set victory on Friday afternoon to open pool-play in the Colorado Premier Challenge.

After falling in the first set 25-22, Mustangs picked up the next sets by scores of 25-23 and 28-26. TSU then forced the match into the fifth set with a 25-21 win before the Mustangs finished the match with a 15-11 final in the fifth set.

SMSU closed the match hitting .276 with 79 kills while recording 11 blocks. TSU finished the match hitting .249 with 68 kills and registered 14 blocks.

SMSU’s offensive was led by Meg Schmidt with 19 kills and a .350 hitting percentage while the defense was led by Payton Hjerleid with 27 digs. Alisa Bengen dished out 44 assists and Emma Thomssen added 22.

The Mustangs had four other players reach double figures in kills with Angela Young (17), Jenna Walczak (12), Zoe Lier (11) and Sarina Smith (10) rounding out the balanced attack.

The fifth set was tied 9-9 before the Mustangs went on a five-point run to gain a 14-9 lead. Walczak started the rally with kill and was followed by a service ace by Hjerleid. Following a TSU hitting error, Young and Walczak recorded back-to-back kills to give SMSU a 14-9 edge. Following two points by TSU, Walczak recorded her fourth kill of the set to seal the victory.

Up next

Southwest Minnesota State will continue play today at 12:30 p.m. CDT versus Lewis (Ill.). The other opponents in the gold bracket, Regis and Concordia-St. Paul, face off at 10 a.m. CDT today. The losers of the first round play at 5 p.m. CDT and the championship match will be played at 8 p.m. CDT.

– Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications

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