Photo by Jake McNeill Southwest Minnesota State University outside hitter Leah Jones spikes the ball over a pair of UMary blockers during the first set of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball match at the PE Gym in Marshall on Friday night. The No. 7 Mustangs defeated the Marauders in straight sets.

MARSHALL — For the fifth consecutive head-to-head match, the No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team swept Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe UMary on Friday night. Saari Kuehl accumulated 17 kills for the Mustangs as they picked up a 25-17, 25-14, 25-20 win to remain a perfect 27-0 all-time against the Marauders.

Beyond the volume of her attacks, Kuel was also efficient. She had just one hitting error to finish with a .593 hitting percentage, leading the Mustangs to a team mark of .396. Emaa VanHeel also added 11 kills on a .524 hitting percentage with five total blocks while Leah Jones tallied another 10 blocks in the match.

VanHeel kills accounted for four of the Mustangs’ first 9 points in the first set as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead. The Marauders cut the deficit to as few as 3 points, 14-11, but SMSU kept them out of striking range before closing out the 25-17 win with four unanswered points.

UMary’s lone lead of the match came when a Holli Klettheimer kill gave them a 3-2 lead in the second set. Yet, VanHeel got a pair of kills and combined with Jones and Sydney Thein for blocks as SMSU surged ahead on a 7-0 run. 

UMary’s Gabby Caskey ended the run with a kill, but SMSU responded with another trio of kills from VanHeel, Jones and Kuehl, as well as a Jones service ace, to keep extending the lead.

SMSU steadily increased its lead from there before claiming the 25-14 win.

Libero McKenzie Tolk led the Mustangs defensively with 14 digs in the match while My Krystosek and Kennedy Drake added 11 and eight respectively. Thein, Jones, and Karli Arkell each also played a major defensive role with two block assists each, holding UMary to a .211 hitting percentage.

UMary libero Kaia Sueker led the Marauders with 15 digs in the match. A 2019 product of Marshall High School, Friday was Sueker’s last time taking the court against SMSU in Marshall as she wraps up her fifth season with the Marauders.

After closing the second set strong, SMSU never let the Marauders get into set 3 by opening with 4 unanswered points. UMary never came closer than 3 points of the Mustangs for the rest of the night in the 25-20 closeout win.

Thein recorded 41 set assists without an error for SMSU while UMary’s Maddy Freed tallied 29 set assists with five errors.

Caskey and Klettheimer led the Marauders with nine kills each while Maddie Cooper added another eight on a .412 hitting percentage.

SMSU improves to 16-1 overall with the win and their 7-1 conference record keeps them tied with Concordia-St. Paul for third place in the NSIC behind Wayne State (8-0) and St. Cloud State (7-0). UMary, meanwhile, falls to 2-13 overall and 0-7 in the NSIC.

The Marauders are tied with Minot State, which the Mustangs will host today at 1 p.m. SMSU is a perfect 15-0 all-time against Minot State and has swept the Beavers in 14 of their 15 matchups, the exception being a 3-2 win over the Beavers in Minot in 2022. Today will mark the Mustangs’ first time hosting Minot State since 2021.