SMSU VOLLEYBALL: Rally cry
No. 9 Mustangs battle from multiple deficits to earn five-set thriller against No. 8 Northern State in home opener
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MARSHALL -- The last two times the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team has faced Northern State University, the Mustangs have been able to string together key victories in thrilling fashion.
The latest installment in that chapter was just as exciting.
In a battle between Top 10 teams, the No. 9 ranked Mustangs and No. 8 Wolves put on another energized display in front of the packed PE Gym. SMSU found itself trailing late, but a strong comeback effort sealed a 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 17-25, 26-24, 15-12) victory for the Mustangs in their home opener on Friday night.
SMSU coach Terry Culhane said they knew it was going to be a challenging matchup with the Wolves coming in as the NSIC preseason favorites, but felt his team did enough to go toe-to-toe with NSU and earn a hard-fought win.
"I think when you're playing in our league and you're playing the preseason conference favorite pick, you know you need to battle and compete," Culhane said. "I thought both teams played really hard and had good runs and also gave up some runs. It's part of the game, but we're fortunate to come away with a win against a really good team."
Despite edging out the Wolves late, the Mustangs found themselves in a massive deficit after Northern State had won the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match. SMSU was able to regroup in the early portions of Set 4, racing out to a 6-3 lead before an Emma Thomssen ace gave the Mustangs a 15-8 advantage.
Northern State would have an answer of its own, however, as the Wolves went on an 11-6 run to cut the deficit to two at 21-19 before tying things up at 22 apiece. After a Lydia Sussner kill gave SMSU the lead, NSU claimed the next two points to reach match point. But the Mustangs dug deep, getting back-to-back blocks to take a 25-24 lead and send the Mustang faithful onto its feet. Alisa Bengen then came up with an ace, cranking up the energy from SMSU and helping force a fifth and final set.
With a little momentum on their side, the Mustangs had high hopes of continuing that display to start the fifth frame. Unfortunately for SMSU, the Wolves found a jolt of energy and took a 7-2 lead to open the set and force the Mustangs to test their resiliency once again.
Slowly but surely, SMSU worked its way back into the match and was able to cut the deficit to 11-10 before an Angela Young kill and an ace from Payton Hjerleid gave the Mustangs a one-point advantage. Another ace from Hjerleid and a pair of NSU errors sealed the set victory for the Mustangs and capped off the two-set comeback.
Young said in the final two sets, they looked at each other and knew they needed to put together that extra effort in order to come away with the win and was proud of the resiliency they showed.
"I think at the end of the fourth set especially, you could just tell we weren't giving up and we were giving that extra effort that we needed to give in order to stay with them and win that set," Young said. "In the fifth set, we were down right away, but I think everyone just knew and believed we could win and that everyone wanted it, so that's what helped us."
The come-from-behind effort by the Mustangs was part of a tightly-contested affair that saw 21 ties and nine lead changes.
SMSU was able to get out to a strong start in the opening set, building a 12-7 lead before consecutive aces from Thomssen pushed the Mustangs' advantage to 17-9. The Wolves would battle back, though, answering with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to a pair at 19-17, but three straight kills from Young, Rachel Fink and Meg Schmidt kept SMSU in front at 22-17. The Mustangs would later take Set 1, 25-22 and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Set 2 saw another impressive start by the Mustangs, as SMSU used a pair of Young kills and a 6-2 run to take another 17-9 lead. NSU continued to show some fight from its side of the floor, however, as some miscommunication from the Mustangs allowed the Wolves to go on a 10-1 run and take a 19-18 lead. The two teams would trade points the rest of the way, but NSU finished the second set comeback to tie the match up at 1-1 with a 25-22 win.
Looking to take advantage, Northern State gained an early lead in the third set, but a Sussner kill and block assist cut the deficit to 7-6. Both sides traded points over the next few minutes before the Wolves used a small run to take a 16-12 lead. NSU would then maintain at least a three point lead the rest of the way to take Set 3, 25-17, and a 2-1 lead in the match, setting the stage for the Mustang comeback.
Young led the way for the Mustangs with 16 kills while Schmidt added 13 and Zoe Lier had nine. Thomssen and Bengen led in set assists with 24 each while Hjerleid led in digs with 19 and Thomssen added 15 and Bengen had 10.
Home sweet home
After spending the first 21 days on the road, the Mustangs were finally able to return to the friendly confides of the PE Gym. Young said it felt great to be able to play in front of their fans and the energy was awesome all match.
"It was awesome; it's been tough being away for the first three weeks and especially preseason tournaments get long and traveling to U-Mary and Minot is a tough trip right away, so I think we were really looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd and with a great team, Northern's a great team and we knew that coming in. It was a good atmosphere to play in," Young said.
Up next
No. 9 SMSU (9-2 overall, 3-0 NSIC) will continue its homestand today when it faces MSU Moorhead at 2 p.m. Culhane said their biggest takeaway will be to learn their experiences with each match and be able to quickly turn around and compete the next day.
"I think we need to learn from our experiences; we won an exciting match against a very good opponent and we can enjoy it for a while, but the hard part about this conference is you've got to come back and be ready to play in less than 24 hours," Culhane said. "I think how we handle that mentally is important as well as what we do physically."