PITTSBURG, Kan. — The No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team found a way to remain undefeated on Friday night at the Pittsburg Classic. The Mustangs coasted to a straight-sets win over Maryville (Mo.) in the morning, and battled back from a 2-1 deficit before coming back for a five-set win over Pittsburg State in the nightcap.

GAME 1

SMSU 3, Maryville (Mo.) 0

McKenzie Tolk’s masterful back-row performance highlighted Southwest Minnesota State University’s sweep of Maryville to start their Friday doubleheader. The senior libero tallied 23 digs in the match, while Kennedy Drake and Mya Krystosek chipped in another 14 and 13.

The Mustangs trailed 8-6 in the first half before Leah Jones got four kills in five points, the exception being a Tolk service ace, to flip the script for a 10-8 SMSU lead.

Maryville responded shortly thereafter with a 6-1 run of their own to retake the lead. Yet, Marshall closed the set on a 12-5 run to claim a 25-20 win.

Jones was the Mustangs’ leading hitter on the day with 14 digs on a .250 hitting percentage, and also contributed a pair of ace blocks. Natalie Pilney and Krystosek added 12 and 11 kills for the Mustangs, coming on a .524 hitting percentage for Pilney and a .162 clip for Krystosek, while Karli Arkell led the Mustangs up front defensively with three ace blocks.

Sydney Thein facilitated the SMSU attack with 44 set assists in the match.

The Mustangs started the second set with momentum, jumping out to a 6-3 lead before capitalizing on a 7-point service run from Kennedy Drake to cement their lead at 9 points. Krystosek came up with three kills over the run.

Maryville came back late in the set, eventually cutting the deficit to 21-20 on a Leslie Loganbach and Ella Brinkmann block. Yet, SMSU scored 4 of the final five points in the set to claim a 25-21 victory.

Game 3 also started out back and forth until three kills from Jones helped the Mustangs score 5 unanswered points to extend their lead to 11-5. That was the last long scoring run of the match, as SMSU went on to claim a 25-15 win.

Ella Brinkman finished with 15 kills and 18 digs to lead Maryville, while Taylor Reynolds tallied 17 set assists.

GAME 2

SMSU 3, Pittsburg St. 2

In a competitive matchup with Pittsburg State, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team kept its perfect start to the season alive with a come-from-behind five-set victory Friday evening, its second of a doubleheader.

SMSU faced a 2-1 deficit after the first three sets. The Mustangs took game 1 25-20, but fell in the next two 20-25 and 18-25. Yet, Leah Jones and Ashley Peltier combined for 37 kills to push SMSU forward and take sets four and five, 25-23 and 15-12.

Jones tied her career high with 19 kills on a .231 hitting percentage, along with a team second-best 20 digs.

Mya Krystosek led with 21 digs to her 13 kills, while Sydney Thein tallied 18 more digs.

Thein had another powerful performance, pacing SMSU’s offense with 57 set assists.

Following Jones, Peltier finished the match with 18 kills on a .260 hitting percentage. Natalie Pilney also tallied 13 kills, the fourth Mustang with double-digit kills, on a .480 hitting percentage.

Overall, the Mustangs had 75 kills to Pittsburg’s 68.

Vix Vilott had 18 kills to lead Pittsburg offensively on a .405 hitting percentage, while Josie McCroskey anchored its defense with a game-high 36 digs.

SMSU (7-0) will next begin Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play next weekend, and will look to continue its perfect start to the season, when it travels to Bemidji State on Friday and Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.