Sioux Falls, S.D. –  The Minnesota State volleyball team fell to Sioux Falls on Friday night in five sets by the scores of 21-25, 25-17, 25-19, 22-25 and 15-9.

With the loss, the Mavericks record falls to 13-8 overall and 9-5 in the conference. 

In set one, the Mavericks and Cougars were all tied at 16-16 before the Mavericks went on a 4-0 run to make the score 20-16. Minnesota State went on to take the first set, 25-21 over the Cougars. Sophomore middle blocker Krista Hassing led the Mavericks offensively with six kills and an impressive .556 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Jenna McNallan posted three kills with junior setter Ellie Van De Steeg also adding three kills and 11 assists in the set.
  
The Cougars in set two built a 7-3 advantage over the Mavericks and continued to build their lead in the rest of the set as USF took the set 25-17. Once again, Hassing led the way with five kills, as Van De Steeg added another 12 helpers.  
 
In set three, USF jumped out to another 10-5 lead over MSU and never looked back as the Cougars won the set, 25-19. Hassing and Van De Steeg each recorded three kills while as a team the Mavericks accumulated six attack errors.

In the fourth set, the Mavericks were able to build a 10-6 lead over the Cougars. The Purple and Gold continued to sustain their lead as they went on to take the fourth set, 25-22. Senior outside hitter Chandra Honebrink and Hassing each tallied four kills as Van De Steeg pitched in with 10 assists in the set.
 
Midway through the fifth and final set, the Mavericks and Cougars were all tied at 7-7 before USF went on a 8-2 run to win the set and match, 15-9. Freshman middle blocker Vikolia Meade, McNallan and Honebrink each posted two kills in the set.

Overall, Hassing led the Mavericks with 18 kills to go along with her four total blocks. Honebrink finished with eight kills, as Meade and McNallan each recorded six kills. Van De Steeg posted 44 assists and seven kills to her stat sheet. Defensively, sophomore libero Haley Fogarty tallied a match-high 20 digs.
 
The next time the Mavericks hit the court will be on Saturday at #5 Southwest Minnesota State University. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.