Submitted Photo MSU right side hitter Paulina Kowalska (18) reacts after a point during the first set of the NSIC volleyball match against Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn. on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Jake McNeill.

MARSHALL, Minn. — The No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) volleyball team completed its homecoming weekend sweep on Saturday afternoon, taking down Minot State University (MSU) in straight sets, 25-11, 25-17 and 25-8 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play.

The Mustangs’ win over the Beavers started with its defensive play. SMSU held MSU to a -.021 hitting percentage in the match, including a mark of 0.0 in the second set and -.125 in the third. SMSU, meanwhile, hit .386 on the day.

“Something we talked about in between games 2 and 3 is I felt like we did a good job at the net just slowing balls down,” said SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy. “There are a lot of those good block touches that don’t go on the score sheet. We did that row and then our back row just played really hard.”

In the front row, SMSU logged 15 blocks to MSU’s five. Emma VanHeel and Sydney Thein each had a solo block, as well as four block assists for VanHeel and another three from Natalie Pilney for SMSU, while Brommenschenkel and Kowalska tallied five and three block assists respectively for Minot State.

Libero McKenzie Tolk led SMSU’s back row with 19 digs in the match while Mya Krystosek and Kennedy Drake added 10 and eight respectively. For the Beavers, Kelci Madrid led the team with 14 digs while Jaina Macaulay and Emily Barker contributed another six each.

Game 2 was the most competitive of the match for the Beavers. Paulina Kowalska got a kill and combined with Bailee Brommenschenkel for a pair of blocks, while Madelynn Boop added another kill to give the Beavers each of the set’s first four points.

Boddy attributed MSU’s early success in the second set to their tough service throughout the match, adding that the Beavers also put up a tough block at the net early on.

The Beavers maintained that lead up to 7-3 before the Mustangs surged ahead. Three consecutive kills from Emma VanHeel brought SMSU within a point and another two in a row from Leah Jones gave SMSU its first lead of the match. A combined block from VanHeel and Jones and another kill from Jones capped off the 7-0 run with SMSU leading 10-7.

For the rest of the set, SMSU slowly extended its lead. The gap reached its apex when a block from VanHeel and Paige Steinmetz made the score 24-15 in favor of the Mustangs. Minot State was able to capitalize on SMSU service and attacking errors but VanHeel closed out the set with another kill to finalize it at 25-17.

VanHeel finished tied with Jones with a team-leading nine kills, on a .450 hitting percentage for VanHeel and .500 for Jones. True freshmen Natalie Pilney and Natalie Pilney also added eight and five kills for SMSU, including .636 hitting for Pilney.

Kowalska led the Beavers with six kills on a 0.0 hitting percentage while Boop added another four. MSU scored the first point of all three sets. Yet, SMSU pulled away rapidly in the first and third.

The Beavers also led 2-1 in the third set before SMSU rallied ahead with kills from Sydney Thein, VanHeel and Peltier and a Minot State attacking error. The Mustangs made a serving error on the next point to put the ball back in Minot State’s court, but another three unanswered points for the Mustangs made it 8-3.

MSU was shorthanded for the match, bringing a roster of 10 players and no assistant coaches to Marshall. As fatigue set in throughout the match, SMSU was able to work deeper into its rotations and got 13 players on the court in the match.

The Beavers fell to 1-14 on the season and 0-8 in the NSIC, placing them in a tie for last place with UMary. MSU will have the opportunity to break that tie in their next match on Thursday when they go on the road to take on the Marauders (1-14) in

Bismarck.Minnesota State University, Mankato 3, MSU Volleyball 0

By MSU ATHLETICS

MANKATO, Minn. -The MSU volleyball team could not overcome an opposing Mavericks offense Friday on the road falling to Minnesota State University, Mankato in straight sets (19-25, 22-25, 17-25). The loss dropped Minot State’s record to 1-13 overall and 0-7 in NSIC action.

Madelynn Boop finished with ten kills on the day to lead the Beavers attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .276. The Beavers got 16 digs from Kelci Madrid along with five blocks from Mia Thompson to lead them defensively. Madrid had a team-high one ace in the loss.MSU attackers were helped by a team-high 14 assists from Jaina MacAulay.