ST. CLOUD — The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team’s 14-match winning streak to start the season came to a close on Saturday afternoon as the Mustangs lost to No. 5 St. Cloud State in straight sets, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23, in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Play. The result dropped the Mustangs from No. 4 to No. 7 in the coaches poll while moving the 12-2 Huskies up from No. 8.

Over the last five head-to-head matches between SMSU and St. Cloud State, the two teams have alternated victories. The Mustangs haven’t beaten the Huskies in consecutive matches since 2017 when they held a 19-match win streak over St. Cloud dating back to 2005.

Freshman setter Sydney Thein posted a double-double in the match, leading the team with 20 digs and 31 set assists. Libero McKenzie Tolk finished second on the team in both categories with 15 digs and five assists.

While the Mustangs have generally been efficient with their hitting, the Huskies’ defense stymied them this time around. SMSU put together a .179 hitting percentage in the first set and only got worse from there, finishing the night with a .150 mark as a group. St. Cloud State also hit below .200 in the last two sets, but their first-set rate of .375 brought them to .238 on the match.

The match’s first set was back-and-forth early on. St. Cloud couldn’t pull away a lead of more than 2 points early on and an EmmaVanHeel service ace gave SMSU a 7-6 lead.

From there, things went downhill for SMSU. Shelby Kimm and Ella Thompson each notched a pair of kills for the Huskies and a block from Emma Berran and Thompson gave the Huskies a 5-0 run for a 4-point lead.

SMSU fought its way back into the set, tying the game at 13, 14 and 15 points. Another 5-0 run from St. Cloud State, however, made the score 20-15 and the Huskies rolled to the victory from there.

Thompson finished the match as the Huskies’ leading hitter with 20 kills on a .486 hitting percentage. The junior transfer from South Dakota State University also had six block assists and a solo block in the win. 

NSIC kills leader Kenzie Foley added nine kills on a .083 hitting percentage for St. Cloud State while Hannah Bruskiewicz and Kimm contributed eight kills on .300 hitting and seven kills on .294 hitting respectively.

In the second game, St. Cloud State hit the ground running with five straight points to start the set. After a Foley attacking error gave SMSU the ball in their court, the Huskies got another three unanswered kills to storm back ahead.

Trailing 11-4, SMSU got four kills from three different players in VanHeel, Karli Arkell and Saari Kuehl before a St. Cloud Attacking error cut the Huskies’ lead to 11-9. Yet, Kimm got consecutive kills to spark a 4-0 Husky run. After a pair of Mustang points, St. Cloud went on another 5-0 run to pull away for the 25-19 win.

Leah Jones and Arkell finished as the Mustangs’ leading hitters in the match with nine kills each on .308 and .240 hitting. Kuehl also had seven kills, but also seven attacking errors, while Ashley Peltier and VanHeel each finished with another six kills. 

Arkell tallied six block assists in the match while Peltier added another five. SMSU finished the match with nine blocks to St. Cloud’s 11.

SMSU started the third set strong. Arkell and Peltier got a block on the first point of the game and Arkell got another two kills from there to set up a 6-3 Mustang lead.

The lead held for SMSU until consecutive kills from Arkell and Peltier made the score 13-9. Yet, the wheels fell off the wagon from there as five Mustang attack errors led St. Cloud State to 7 unanswered points and its first lead of the set, 16-13.

SMSU battled its way back ahead to 17-16 and 18-17, but that was the last time they led in the match.

A 6-1 run for the Huskies made the score 23-19 when SMSU locked back in. A pair of kills from Jones and Kuehl and a pair of St. Cloud attacking errors brought SMSU back within a point, 24-23, but Thompson got the match-sealing kill to stamp the 25-23 victory.

St. Cloud State moves up to a tie with Wayne State for first place in the NSIC at 6-0 with the win while SMSU falls into a tie with Concordia-St. Paul and Augustana at 5-1 with the loss. Now 14-1 overall, SMSU will look to move ahead of the Vikings when they head to Sioux Falls for a match at Augustana tonight at 6 p.m.

While tonight’s match will be played as an NSIC match, the Mustangs and Vikings met earlier this year when SMSU pulled out a five-set non-conference win over Augustana for their home opener on Sept. 24. Jones had 18 kills and 17 digs in the match while Thein had 56 set assists and 20 digs in the 25-16, 25-23, 24-26, 21-25, 16-14 victory.