Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State libero McKenzie Tolk (left) and Paige Steinmetz celebrate the final point in the Mustangs’ Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference sweep of the Bemidji State volleyball team on Saturday at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Leah Jones’ 14 kills and Natalie Pilney’s six total blocks helped the No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team cruise past Bemidji State for its fourth straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win, 25-17, 25-18, 25-14, on Saturday. The recent string of success now brings the Mustangs to four games above .500 in conference play.

“We really have tried to dial in on our side of the net and just look at film [to ask] what can we do to get better in this last month of the season,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy said. “To me, our team has really bought into that. A lot of it’s little things, but just trying to get better at those little things. It’s fun to be able to see as a coach, when it comes to match time, to be able to see, ‘OK, we worked on that, we’re able to do it in a match.’ To me, we’ve been able to do that in a lot of different aspects, just little things. People probably don’t even recognize it, but our team does and that’s what’s important.”

Jones continued to lead the Mustang attack with 14 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while Pilney finished with six block assists and seven kills on a team-leading .583 hitting percentage. The Mustangs also got eight kills apiece from Karli Arkell and Ashley Peltier, as well as four block assists from Peltier.

SMSU’s attack has continued to thrive despite the absence of Mya Krystosek, who ranks second on the team in kills per set and digs per set.

“[Krystosek] does such a great job of passing and defending. Obviously she’s swung a lot on the outside for us, so Paige [Steinmetz] has come in and done a great job of being able to take over that role,” Boddy said. “[Steinmetz] did a good job blocking [Friday] and today, and kept us in there, kept us in the match, being able to serve-receive for us, and she defends really hard back there and sells out, so there aren’t a lot of balls that are going to go past her without a major effort. So Kudos to her and just the rest of our team for trying to step up their game without having [Krystosek].”

Steinmetz’s seven digs were second only to Tolk on the Mustangs, and she also chipped in three kills and a block assist. A timetable is not yet available for Krystosek’s return.

The Mustangs trailed 10-9 in the first set before an Ava Athman service error sparked a Mustang run. Peltier and Pilney combined for a block to take the lead. After a Beaver attacking error, and a Nevaeh Carlson kill kept the Mustangs’ lead at a point, Pilney came up with a pair of kills with a Bemidji attacking error in between to bring the score to 15-11.

SMSU maintained a cushion of a few points until, leading 19-17, a trio of kills from Jones spurred the Mustangs to a 6-0 run to close out the win.

Sydney Thein facilitated the Mustang attack with 36 set assists on one setting error in the game.

Bemidji State scored each of the first 3 points of the second set and led 8-7 when the Mustangs surged ahead again.

SMSU picked up a pair of points before a McKenzie Tolk tied the set up at 9 points apiece. Yet, a pair of kills from Jones, another from Peltier and an Ava Boelter setting error gave the Mustangs a 13-9 cushion.

A Karley Dunham kill, a block from Carlson and Grace Hoffard and an attacking error from Thein retied the set at 16 points apiece.

The two teams again traded points until, tied at 18-all, SMSU closed the set with a 7-0 run. Peltier hit for three consecutive kills, bookended by a pair of Jones kills, and Peltier and Pilney combined for a block on consecutive points to secure the 25-18 win.

After slow starts to the first two sets, the Mustangs jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third before the Beavers tied it up at 7-all on a pair of kills from Ava Athman and another from Grace Hoffard.

Pilney and Jones combined for a block and each swung for a kill to turn the tide in the Mustangs’ favor. After Bemidji State interrupted the run with an Athman kill, Pilney again came up with a kill and combined for another block with Peltier to lead the Mustangs to another 4 unanswered points.

Leading 18-12, a pair of Jones kills and a Steinmetz service ace bolstered SMSU’s lead to 21-13. SMSU went on to score 4 of the final 5 points in the match with freshman Maddy Range hitting the clinching kill.

Lily Riese and Athman led the Bemidji State attack with nine kills each, coming off 20 set assists. Athman’s eight digs were also a team-high.

SMSU finished with a .351 attacking percentage while limiting Bemidji State to a .102 clip.

SMSU improves to 17-6 overall and 10-6 in conference with the win. The Mustangs go on the road this weekend to take on Northern State (S.D.) on Friday at 6 p.m. and Jamestown (N.D.) on Saturday at noon before closing out the regular season at home a week later.

“[We want to] just try to keep using this momentum and trying to get better while winning instead of getting complacent or think we’ve figured it all out,” Boddy said. “Our team knows that we can get better in some areas still, and we’re able to get some wins here through being able to do that… They’ve worked hard in the gym and that’s come to fruition in playing matches.”