Box Score DULUTH, Minn. – The No. 20 Minnesota State Mavericks made the most of their final regular-season match Saturday afternoon defeating the second-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in four sets as the team awaits the final central region rankings.
 
The first set played out very close as the teams played to a tie at 13 midway through the set.  However, Minnesota Duluth emerged from the tie to go on a 12-6 run closing out the set and giving the Bulldogs a 25-19 victory.
 
Facing a 1-0 deficit in the match, the Mavericks responded with a win to tie the match in the second set as they came out as 25-18 winners.  Although the score was tight throughout the set, MSU never trailed and there were only two ties during the set.
 
With the match even at one set apiece, Minnesota Duluth jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the third set.  From this point, MSU was able to piece together a 9-5 run tying the set at 15.  The remainder of the set would see three ties and two lead changes before the Mavericks tallied two of the sets final three points escaping with the 25-23 win.
 
With the momentum from winning the previous two sets, MSU controlled the majority of the fourth set coming out with the 25-21 match-clinching win.  The Mavericks used five and four kills from junior outside hitter Chelsea Fogarty and junior middle blocker Courteney Steinhauser, respectively as they handed UMD just its third loss of the year.
 
Steinhauser led the Mavericks offensive attack with 13 kills while Fogarty and senior Alli Rice each contributed 12.  Steinhauser connected on 13 of her 29 attempts for a .379 hitting percentage while she also led the Mavericks with six total blocks.
 
Sophomore setter Kelli Elhardt paced the Mavericks with 23 digs while senior setter Brittany Stamer set up the Maverick hitters with 37 assists.
 
Each team recorded 56 kills while UMD finished with more assists (55-51) and digs (84-76).  MSU tallied four more blocks than UMD (12-8) as the Bulldogs fell to 27-3 overall and 18-2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.
 
Minnesota State (20-8, 13-7 NSIC) will now wait for the final central region rankings to come out to determine if it will move on to post-season play.

Box Score