MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minnesota State women's volleyball (10-3, 2-3 NSIC) fell to MSU Moorhead (6-6, 1-3 NSIC) Saturday afternoon, 3-1. The Dragons hit nearly .300 in the match, as they ended a 10-game losing streak to the Mavericks.
 
The opening set was tightly contested, with no team taking more than a one-point advantage until MSU Moorhead went up 10-8 on a Maverick hitting error. The Dragons went up by four thanks to a Kiara Olesch service ace. A 6-2 run for the Mavericks knotted the score up at 15-15, capped off by a Kiya Durant solo block.
 
Back-and-forth play continued. After going down 21-19, a service error gave possession back to the Mavericks and Brooke Bolwerk connected with Avery Klein for a kill to tie the score. The Dragons closed out the set on a 4-1 run thanks to two kills from Abby Thompson and a kill from Brielle Riess ended the set, MSU Moorhead victorious, 25-22.
 
Minnesota State got up 3-1 on the Dragons in set two, thanks to kills from Durant and Toryn Richards. A 4-1 run gave the Dragons a one-point lead and a kill from Emma Loveall ended the run. Both teams went on their own separate 3-0 runs to keep the score knotted at 8-8.
After some more back-and-forth scoring, the Dragons went on a 3-0 run to go up 13-10. Emily Ramsay had two kills in that quick stretch for MSUM. The Mavericks continued their relentless pursuit of trying to take a lead, but the two teams traded scores until it was 21-21. A kill from Loveall put the Mavericks up one and forced a MSU Moorhead timeout. The pause in play was no use; Loveall had another kill and Kern had a kill at the net to give the Mavericks the victory in set two, 25-22, tying the match. Minnesota State hit .342 in the second set.
 
After a pair of kills from Durant and Abby Wolfe, the Dragons went on a 3-0 run to take an early 4-2 lead, thanks to a kill and a service ace from Riess. After the Mavericks tied the set back up at 5-5, the Dragons went on a 6-1 run thanks to three blocks from the red and black side of the net. A Kern-Kill and a Durant solo block brought momentum back to MSU.
 
A 4-1 run for the Mavericks brought the deficit to two. Durant and Richards had kills and Durant and Klein combined for a block in that stretch. After some volley scoring, the Dragons went up 19-15 on a Riess kill. Three-straight Maverick points off of two kills from Richards and a fake-set kill from Bolwerk forced a Dragons timeout.
 
Out of the break, Richards had two kills to tie the set score, 20-20. The Mavericks took a timeout following a pair of errors that put the Dragons up by two. A Loveall kill was the last score for the Mavericks in the set; the Dragons closed out the set 25-22.
 
A quick 4-0 run put the Dragons up 7-2 early in set four. Thompson had a block assist and Halle Erickson had a kill to force a Maverick timeout. MSUM continued the run thanks to two service aces to put the Dragons up 10-2. The Dragons cruised out to a 12-point lead, sweeping momentum away from the Mavericks. An 8-2 run for the Mavericks brought the score to 21-15 and forced a MSUM timeout. Despite the effort from the Mavericks, the Dragons closed out the set 25-19, as the home team won 3-1.  
 
Richards led the Mavericks with 12 kills and 17 digs and had a service ace. Durant and Kern each had three blocks in the match. Klein ended with 11 kills and Loveall tallied 10. Bolwerk had a match-high 25 assists; She also had 12 digs against the Dragons.
 
"MSU Moorhead played an outstanding match today and deserved that win. Growth isn't a straight line," said Maverick head coach Corey Phelps. "We plateaued this weekend and need to continue to stay hungry. We will continue to work had and take the subpar outcomes as lessons. If nothing else, it is a great wakeup call for us."
 
The Mavericks will close out their road trip with a matchup against the No. 15 Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth (8-5, 1-3 NSIC) on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. in Duluth. UMD has lost three matches in a row. The Mavericks went to Romano Gymnasium and won in upset fashion last season for its biggest win of the 2023 season.