Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State volleyball team (11-5, 4-4 NSIC) hosted the #9 Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs (11-5, 5-3 NSIC) Saturday afternoon, winning the match with a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-22, 25-22). The win is the second in a row for the Mavericks against a team ranked in the AVCA coaches poll after sweeping #24 Sioux Falls last night.
The Mavericks were the first team to get an edge in the first set, building an early 10-6 lead relying on the strength of the front line, anchored by senior middle blocker
Anissa Janzig. Things got out of hand for the Mustangs in the first set after that with Minnesota State rallying 3-4 point runs en-route to a 25-16 set win.
In the second set, the teams played much more evenly with runs of 2-3 points being responded to each time one of the teams looked to pull ahead. The Mavericks made the plays late in the set, with powerful kills from
Morgan Olson and
Jessica Nelson, to take the set 25-22, and take a match lead 2-0.
The Mustangs proved they would not go out without a fight, starting the third set with a 5-0 run to put the Mavericks on their heals. One again though, the middle defense for Minnesota State allowed the team to rally back with a 13-5 run punctuated by a pair of blocks from
Janzig. The teams would trade points before the Mavericks pulled away to take a 23-17 lead, but the Mustangs fought back into the match with a 4-0 run. After trading a pair of points, SMSU attempted an attack to bring them within one, only to be met at the net once more by
Janzig who sealed the Minnesota State win with the block.
Olson and
Nelson led all players in the match with 13 kills each, while
Janzig finished with four kills and 5.5 blocks.
Dana Schindler initiated the offense for the Mavericks and finished with 35 assists to lead all players.
The Mavericks will play three matches this upcoming week, starting with a Tuesday night tangle at Upper Iowa with first serve scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Minnesota State will remain on the road for the weekend with matches against the University of Mary Friday, at 6:00 p.m., and Minot State Saturday, with first serve scheduled for noon.
