Photo by Sam Thiel Members of the SMSU volleyball team celebrate with teammate Halle Jansen (13) after she recorded a kill during their match against the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. SMSU defeated UMD 3-2.

MARSHALL — After dropping its first game of the season on Friday, the No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team looked to hit the reset button against another ranked opponent. Facing No. 19 University of Minnesota Duluth, the Bulldogs challenged the Mustangs and pushed them to five sets, but SMSU was able to earn the 3-2 victory (25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 22-25, 15-9) on Saturday in the PE Gym.

“We always talk to them about if you get up 2-0 it doesn’t mean that teams are going to give up, so we talked about that coming out of the third game,” SMSU coach Terry Culhane said. “We wanted to stay after them and we didn’t and once you get into the fourth and fifth sets, anything can happen.”

It was tight right from the opening set, with both sides deadlocked at 3-3 before a kill by Meg Schmidt gave SMSU a 6-5 lead. The Mustangs then got a strong serving run from Alisa Bengen to push their advantage to 11-5 and continued to hold onto their lead over the next several serves. UMD would draw to within four at 24-20, but SMSU got the next point to take Set 1, 25-20.

SMSU jumped out to a solid lead in Set 2, going up 6-2 before another serving run – this one courtesy of Schmidt – extended its advantage to 12-4. The Mustangs maintained its lead and would go up by double digits at 23-13, but the Bulldogs kept battling and trimmed the deficit to six at 24-18 before SMSU claimed Set 2, 25-19 and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Angela Young said their key offensively, especially in those first two sets were their ability to serve as well as having multiple players step up and get key swings in.

“Serving is probably our number one thing; for any volleyball team to be good you’ve got to be able to serve,” Young said. “That just helps us a ton and gets them out of their offense and then I thought we had some girls who took good swings at the end when we needed to. They weren’t afraid to just go up there and they knew their role and I thought that helped us a lot.”

Despite the deficit, UMD kept battling, opening the third set with a 5-2 lead before later pushing its advantage to 16-9. The Bulldogs continued to create separation in the frame, building a double-digit lead but SMSU fought back, getting to within four at 24-20 before UMD earned the final point to take Set 3, 25-20 and make it 2-1.

SMSU would get out to a quick lead to start Set 4, going up 4-1 before three straight aces by Katelyn Nichols pushed its advantage to 9-3. UMD had an answer, though, getting to within three at 12-9 before tying things up at 14 apiece. The two teams went back and forth over the next several serves, with SMSU taking a 17-14 lead before UMD answered with four straight points to go up 18-17. The Bulldogs wouldn’t allow the Mustangs to take a lead the rest of the frame, earning a 25-22 victory to force a fifth and final set.

In the final set, UMD took an early 3-0 lead before SMSU won the next three points to tie things up. The back and forth play continued over the next several serves, with neither team holding a lead more than two. UMD would hold a 7-5 advantage, but the Mustangs used a trio of kills by Schmidt and a couple of Bulldog errors to go on a 5-0 run and take a 10-7 lead. The Bulldogs would get as close as two at 11-9, but SMSU answered with the final four points to take Set 5, 15-9 and win the match.

Young led SMSU with 21 kills while Schmidt added 13 and Emma VanHeel had 12. Payton Hjerleid led in digs with 15 while Bengen added seven and Bengen led in set assists with 46. As a team, SMSU had a hitting percentage of .206 while holding UMD to a hitting percentage of just .175.

Up next

SMSU (12-1 overall, 4-1 NSIC) will hit the road next weekend, facing MSU Moorhead on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on Northern State University next Saturday at 6 p.m.

No. 5 SMSU 3,

No. 19 Minnesota Duluth 2

UMD 20 19 25 25 9

SMSU 25 25 20 22 15

Kills: SMSU (Young 21; Schmidt 13; VanHeel 12).

Digs: SMSU (Hjerleid 15; Bengen 7; Young 6).

Set Assists: SMSU (Bengen 46).

Serving (aces): SMSU (Nichols 5; Schmidt 3; Bengen 2).