Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Golden, Colo. –  The Minnesota State volleyball team secured a pair of victories over the Dominican Penguins and the Bentley Falcons with scores of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively, in it's first day of matches at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic.

"It's always good this time of year to play someone else," head coach Dennis Amundson said. "We were certainly excited, so excited we scored a lot of points both for ourselves and our opponent. To our kids credit, they settled down and got a little better each set and we came out on top."

MSU began the day with a 3-1 win over the Dominican Penguins by the scores of 17-25, 29-27, 25-22 and 28-26.

Dominican jumped out to a 12-8 over the Mavericks in set one and never looked back. The Penguins were able to extend the lead and finish the set with a 25-17 win.

In set two, the Mavericks gained a 5-1 lead, before the Penguins were able to exchange points back in forth bringing the match to a 25-25 tie. Minnesota State prevailed and was able to win the set 29-27. Freshman Sydney Powell recorded three kills during the second set, including the set-winning kill. Junior Ellie Van De Steeg added 15 assists in the second set as well.

Minnesota State would stay in control as it got out to a 13-9 lead in the third set. The Mavericks continued their play as they won the set 25-22. Sophomore Krista Hassing posted seven kills in the set while Van De Steeg added another 15 helpers.

In the fourth and final set the teams exchanged points back and forth throughout the whole set. The Purple and Gold were able to gain a 24-20 lead before the Penguins were able to tie it all up at 25-25. In end the Mavericks overcame and won the final set 28-26. Junior outside hitter Chandra Honebrink added five kills and Van De Steeg recorded 14 more assists.

Van De Steeg paced the Maverick offense tallying  52 assists (13.00 per set), seven kills, 10 digs and a .778 attack percentage. Hassing posted a career-high with 20 kills (5.00 per set). Honebrink added 13 kills (3.25 per set) and nine digs while sophomore Haley Fogarty recorded 27 digs (6.75 per set).

MSU continued its winning ways in the second match of day with a 3-0 win over the Bentley Falcons by the scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-17.

The Mavericks rushed out to 19-10 lead in the first set and stayed in control throughout. MSU won the set 25-15 over the Falcons. Hassing led the set with five kills and a .343 attack percentage. Honebrink added four kills and eight digs, while Van De Steeg posted 10 assists.

In set number two, the Mavericks took control early and never looked back as they were able to win the set 25-19 against the Falcons. Powell and Honebrink each added four kills in the set as Van De Steeg added another 13 assists.

In the third and final set Minnesota State led early with a 13-9 score midway through the set. The Mavericks held on to win the set over the Falcons 25-17. Van De Steeg led the way with 17 assists, while Hassing posted another six kills with a .500 attack percentage.

As a team, the Mavericks recorded a .385 attack percentage on 96 attempts during the match. Hassing posted a match-high 14 kills with a .458 attack percentage. Honebrink added 10 kills, 13 digs and .368 attack percentage. Powell tallied another 12 kills and Van De Steeg had total of 40 assists for the match.

The Mavericks return to action Saturday as they take on Colorado Christian and Northwest Nazarene on day two of Oredigger Classic. The opening serves are slated for 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively.