MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State volleyball (16-7, 8-7 NSIC) fell to No. 2 St. Cloud State (22-2, 16-0 NSIC) in Bresnan Arena Friday evening in a straight three-set sweep. The Mavericks senior outside hitter
Toryn Richards led the offense with eight kills on the night and junior middle
Emliy Kern recorded 5 block assists for the defense.
After starting the first set with a three-three tie, the Huskies were able to pull ahead by two and maintain their lead throughout the rest of the match. Down 11-8, freshman right side hitter
Avery Klein killed a set from senior
Brooke Bolwerk to close the gap. After an attack error from the SCSU, the Mavericks were within one with a score of 11-10. Four plays later (13-12), SCSU went on a five-point run, stopped by a kill from freshman right side hitter Klein, assisted by senior Bolwerk
. The Huskies would go on to take the first set 25-16.
SCSU started the second set with an early 2-0 lead, quickly turning it into a 7-2 lead after a pair of kills from
Kenzie Foley and
Emma Berran. Foley also capped off the run with a solo block. Minnesota State went on a 4-1 run to cut the Husky lead to two, but St. Cloud took five of seven to put the away team up 13-8. A kill from Minnesota State's Kern ended the run but started a new one for the Huskies; SCSU went on a 10-1 run to give the Huskies a 23-10 lead in set two. Despite a 5-1 run for the Mavericks, the NSIC's top team took set two, 25-15.
Klein and Kern combined for a block to open the third set, but Foley took over, as she tallied three kills and a solo block in a run that put St. Cloud State up 6-2. Richards had a pair of kills and Klein had a kill and a service ace to tie the score up at 6-6. A short 3-1 run for the Huskies put the team up by two. Following some back-and-forth scoring, a 3-0 run from SCSU put the team up 16-11. For every point the Mavericks could muster, it seemed the Huskies had two more in response. St. Cloud State closed out the match on a 4-0 run to take the third set 25-15. The Huskies won their 16
th consecutive conference match of the season with the win.
Both teams ended the match with seven total blocks.
Richards led the team with eight kills and two digs in the match with a .207 hit percentage. Klein ended with six kills, six digs, a service ace and two block assists. Kern ended with three kills and five total blocks. Loveall also contributed on three blocks to go along with her four kills. Junior libero
Ellie Kline led the team with 12 digs in the match.
"We talked [as a team] throughout that match about this is why they're the No. 2 team in the country," said Mavericks head coach
Corey Phelps. "They are very good, and they are much better than the last time we played them. We have to find ways to respond better."
Minnesota State closes out its home season tomorrow, Saturday, November 9 at 3 p.m. in the Taylor Center. The Mavericks match up against Minnesota Duluth (14-10, 7-9 NSIC) for the second time this season on Senior Day. MSU defeated UMD in Duluth in early October a three-set sweep over the Bulldogs.
