Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State libero McKenzie Tolk makes a dig during the second set of the Mustangs' 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals in Marshall on Tuesday night

MARSHALL — The third-seeded Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team was not able to mount another comeback from a two-set deficit against the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Tuesday night, falling in four sets in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference quarterfinals at the SMSU PE Gym.

The Mustangs started the first set with three unanswered points courtesy of an Alisa Bengen kill and a pair of Duluth hitting errors. SMSU maintained its narrow lead until, trailing 9-6, the Bulldogs scored four unanswered points to take the lead, two of which came on kills from Cianna Selbitschka.

Leah Jones got a kill to tie up the game and, after the teams went back and forth, a kill from Saari Kuehl and a Duluth attacking error put the Mustangs on top, 14-12.

That was the last lead the Mustangs would hold in the set. An SMSU hitting error, an Emma Kujawa service ace and a Payton Addink kill put UMD right back on top.

SMSU kept the match tight until Duluth closed out the game 25-17 on a 5-0 run. Two of the Bulldogs’ five unanswered points came on Selbitschka kills. The All-NSIC First-Teamer had seven kills in the frame.

Slow starts have been a theme for the Mustangs against the Bulldogs this year. SMSU dropped the first set of their first matchup against Duluth in Marshall this year and has dropped each of the first two in their last two matches.

“I think they just understand the stakes of it. They know they’re playing a good team,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy said when asked about the Bulldogs’ early success. “We obviously understand that as well, but they certainly have, credit to them, come out and played really tough. They served tough, I thought, right from the start and they understood the stakes in the match tonight. That was a must-win for them and you can feel the urgency on their end.”

Jones made a statement in her NSIC postseason debut. She was named All-NSIC First-team and was named the conference Freshman of the Year and lived up to the hype in the quarterfinals. Her 15 kills were a team-high, trailing only Selbitschka and Addink’s 17, and she also contributed nine digs and a block assist.

“She’s been pretty consistent. She’s kind of faltered one match this year… but she’s tough. She’s been really good as a young kid and she’s playing a big role for us. I just think she’s been incredibly, incredibly consistent and at a very high level for us,” Boddy said.

Bengen had 34 set assists without an error for the Mustangs on the night. Her 11 digs trailed only McKenzie Tolk’s 13 and her six kills were good for fourth on the team behind Jones, Kuehl (10) and Kusler (7).

While the Mustangs led for roughly half of the first set, they only held a lead once in the second set after a Karlee Arkell kill and a Natalie Rolbiecki service ace put them up 4-3. Yet, Hope Schjenken, Selbitschka and Madison Gordon got consecutive kills to put the Bulldogs right back on top on the subsequent points.

SMSU tied up the set at 7-7 on a Duluth service error and a block by Bengen and VanHeel but a 7-1 Bulldog scoring run was too much for the Mustangs to keep pace with. The Mustangs never came within four points for the remainder of the game and fell 25-15.

Duluth held a significant efficiency advantage at the nets. The Bulldogs put together a .287 hitting percentage to the Mustangs’ .177 mark. A big part of the difference was the Bulldogs’ blocking. Schjenken, Paulsen and Daak each finished the match with five block assists, helping the Bulldogs to 10 blocks as a team. SMSU finished the match with eight. Arkell and Bengen had the only solo blocks of the match while Arkell and VanHeel also each had three block assists.

“Some big kids up there, that certainly presents some issues for us blocking-wise, but I thought they served well so they got some decent looks up there,” Boddy said. “At times, we’ve got to be able to run with a little bit more tempo to try to create some better looks, some better one-on-one opportunities against blockers, but credit to them. I thought they kept a lot of pressure on us to be able to be successful.”

The Bulldogs totaled seven service aces on the night, four of which came from Gordon and another two of which came from Kaylyn. As a team, the Bulldogs served a percentage of .937. Rolbiecki and Kusler each had a pair of aces on the Mustangs side while SMSU put together a .899 team serve percentage.

After dropping the first two sets, the Mustangs found themselves in a familiar position. SMSU had won each of its regular-season matchups against the Bulldogs, the most recent of which they overcame a 2-0 deficit for a five-set win in Duluth. As such, they came into the game 3 on Tuesday night looking to repeat history.

Kills by Kuehl and Karli Arkell and a Duluth attacking error helped the Mustangs start the frame with a 3-1 lead. Still, the Bulldogs charged back with a kill by Samantha Paulsen and an SMSU ball-handling error to tie the match right back up.

Bengen and Addink exchanged kills to make the score 4-4. Duluth was able to keep the game tight from there but wasn’t able to even tie it again after an attacking error and a Rolbiecki service ace put the Mustangs on top, 6-4.

Duluth came within a point three more times but SMSU pulled back away each time the Bulldogs threatened to close the gap. After a Selbitschka kill made the score 8-7 in favor of the Mustangs, a Duluth service error started a 4-0 Mustang run. The Bulldogs scored five of the next six points to pull back within one, 13-12, but a Bengen kill once again kept the Mustang lead intact.

Another pair of kills by Kuehl and another by Jones helped the Mustangs enlarge their lead to three points and they kept a multi-point lead alive for the remainder of the set. They led by as many as five points before closing out a 25-21 win with a Brooklyn Kusler kill to force a fourth set.

The fourth game started as close as it could get. Neither team led by more than a point until a Paulsen kill and a Madison Kaylyn ace gave the Bulldogs an 11-9 lead. Even then, a ball-handling error and an attacking error tied the game right back up.

Duluth scored three unanswered points on an Addink kill and a pair of Mustang hitting errors but, from there, SMSU took five of the next six points to take a 16-15 advantage, its first lead since 7-6. Jones had a pair of kills, VanHeel had another and Kusler had an ace on the 5-1 Mustang run.

A service error tied up the match and kills by Jones and Selbitschka made it 17-17. The teams continued to duel with an SMSU attacking error and a Kuehl kill re-tying the game yet again and a kill from Grace Daak and a Bulldog service error knotting up the match at 19-19.

From there, however, Duluth started to pull away. An SMSU hitting error, a Kaylyn ace and an Addink kill gave the Bulldogs a three-point lead, 22-19, to force an SMSU timeout.

Unfortunately for the home crowd, the timeout wasn’t able to shift momentum. A Mustang hitting error and a Schjenken and Addink set up match point. A kill by Kusler and a Bulldog hitting error kept SMSU alive but a hard-hit spike by Addink landed for a kill to seal the Bulldogs’ 25-21 win in four sets.

SMSU entered the match ranked No. 5 in the latest AVCA poll while the Bulldogs were ranked No. 16. The Bulldogs will now face No. 2 Concordia St. Paul in the semifinals on Saturday in Wayne, Neb. The Mustangs will now await NCAA tournament selections with the hope of getting a bid at 23-6 on the season.

“We’re going to need some other teams to help us out and some teams that we want to win both of the conference tournaments… hopefully those teams that are ranked a little bit higher are winning those games for our sake, but it’s going to be a long wait until Monday night,” Boddy said.