Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University senior middle blocker celebrates a point during the second set of the Mustangs' Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match against UMary on Friday at the PE Gym in Marshall. Arkell was one of three seniors on SMSU's roster being celebrated in the Senior Night match.

MARSHALL — Karli Arkell, McKenzie Tolk and Kenna Bixby were each celebrated as a part of the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team’s senior night on Friday. The No. 14 Mustangs hosted UMary for their penultimate home game in the PE Gym, and the Mustangs sent home fans home happy and quickly with a straight-sets win, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21.

“We’ve talked a lot in the last two weeks about trying to be a better version of our team,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy said. “We’ve identified some things we want to get better at, and I think our team has bought into that in the last two-and-a-half weeks. Just trying to get better at some things to try to hopefully make us tougher to play against.

A trio of kills from Ashley Peltier and another two from Karli Arkell helped SMSU jump out to an 8-4 lead in the first set. Another pair of service aces from Paige Steinmetz and a pair of kills from Jones helped the Mustangs continue to expand their lead with another 4-1 run.

As the frame progressed, the Marauders never made any progress. Steinmetz’s third ace of the frame brought SMSU’s lead to its 11-point apex, 22-11, and Jones accounted for each of SMSU’s final 3 points with two kills and a block.

Arkell and Tolk were among SMSU’s key players on their senior night. Arkell tied Peltier with a team-leading three blocks and her 14 kills also trailed only Jones’ 15. Tolk, meanwhile, logged a match-high 10 digs. Bixby also finished with a pair of set assists and a dig.

“It’s just fun to get [the seniors] all in there, and we kind of had that as a motivator. Kenna hasn’t gotten to play a ton, so our team was motivated to do that for her and to be able to give her the chance to get in there,” Boddy said. “She’s worked her butt off just as much as anybody else, and getting through a program after two of them being here for four years, and this is Kenna’s second year, is not an easy thing to do. There’s just a lot of time and effort and commitment that goes into is, so it’s always a special weekend to be able to honor our seniors.”

Also contributing, Sydney Thein recorded 33 set assists while Peltier contributed eight kills. SMSU finished with a .365 hitting percentage to UMary’s .096.

SMSU again sprinted out to an early lead in the second set, with five Arkell kills sparking 7 unanswered points over the course of an 10-1 run, giving SMSU an 13-3 edge. Arkell also came up with a pair of blocks over the stretch.

UMary cut the deficit to as few as 6 points, 16-10, but SMSU never let up and again coasted to a 25-16 win, with Emily Rohrer slamming home the clinching kill.

Leading two sets to none, SMSU struggled to pull away early in the final set. The Mustangs trailed 5-4 before Arkell logged a block and a kill and Kennedy Drake served up an ace to give the Mustangs an 8-5 lead.

The Marauders hung around, staying within striking distance without ever threatening to take the lead. UMary went on a 6-2 run late in the frame, but it was too little, too late as Pilney went up and swung for the match-winning kill.

SMSU improves to 20-6 overall and 13-6 in conference play, putting them in sixth place in the NSIC after falling behind fifth-place Sioux Falls due to the Cougars’ pair of head-to-head wins over SMSU. The Mustangs will wrap up the regular season today when they host Minot State (3-26, 1-18 NSIC) in the PE Gym at 2 p.m.