Sioux Falls, S.D. - The Minnesota State volleyball survived a tough NSIC road contest in five sets against the University of Sioux Falls on Friday night. The Mavericks picked up the win over the Cougars after winning sets two, three and five (23-25, 29-27, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12).

MSU recorded a season-high 18 total team blocks in the match, which marks as a program-high dating back to at least 2011. Four Mavericks posted at least five or more block assists in the win, as junior Krista Hassing [Blue Earth, Minn.] led the way with 10 block assists and two solo blocks. Senior Ellie Van De Steeg [Hutchinson, Minn.] finished with seven block assists, junior Lexi Platz [Lafayette, Minn.] collected six block assists and sophomore Vikolia Meade [Solon, Iowa] rounds out the quartet with five block assists and one solo block.  

The offensive attack also had a balance attack in the win as five Mavericks tallied seven or more kills in the match. Hassing finished with match-high 21 kills, Platz recorded 13 kills, freshman Nevena Vukomanovich [Maplewood, Minn.] added 10 kills, junior Sydney Geisness [St. Croix Falls, Wis.] pitched in with nine kills and Meade finished the match win seven kills of her own.

In set one MSU fell to USF 25-23, despite having a 18-15 lead late in the set. Hassing collected six kills in the set, while Vukomanovich and Platz each added three kills of their own in the first frame of action.

The Mavericks were able to get some revenge on the Cougars in an extended set two with a 29-27 win. The set was all tied up at 27-27, before Vukomanovich put the nail in the coffin in the set as she recorded two straight kills to give MSU the second set win.

The Cougars built an early 4-1 lead over the Mavericks and that would mark as USF's biggest lead in set three. Soon after that, MSU chipped its way back into USF's lead and eventually tied the set up at 10-10.  The Mavericks would then go on a little 5-1 run on the Cougars to give MSU a 15-11 lead midway through the set. The Purple and Gold finished off the set with a 25-23 win. Hassing and Platz each tallied four kills in the set.

In the fourth set, MSU built a 7-3 lead over USF, before the Cougars quickly changed the momentum in the set and went on a 10-2 run to give USF a 13-9 lead over MSU. The Mavericks would trim the Cougars lead down to one late in the set, 23-22, but it wasn't enough as USF forced a fifth set with a 25-22 fourth set win.

In the fifth and final set the Cougars held its biggest lead of 9-7, which forced the Mavericks to take a timeout. After the timeout, MSU scored the next four points to put the Mavericks up 11-9 late in the set, as Geisness posted two kills in the little 4-0 run. The run proved to be the difference as MSU won the fifth set over USF, 15-13.

Van De Steeg finished with a match-high 54 assists and also added 10 digs. Junior Haley Fogarty  [Belle Plaine, Minn.] led the way with 20 digs. Sophomore Rissi McNallan [Andover, Minn.] added 13 digs of her own, while Geisness tallied 10 kills to her stat sheet as well.

With the win, the Mavericks extend their NSIC record to 3-1 and 9-3 overall.

MSU returns to action Saturday against #3 Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.