OWENSBORO, Ky. – Minnesota State women's volleyball (6-0) won both of its matches Friday against Illinois Springfield (4-1) and West Alabama (0-5) to open the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational. With the two sweeps, the Mavericks improve to their best record since 2010 when the team started 9-0. Junior middle blocker Emily Kern led the team with 12 total blocks between the two matches and also had 17 kills.
 
Game 1: Minnesota State 3, Illinois Springfield 0
Minnesota State started the tournament on fire, jumping out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to blocks from Kiya Durant, Emily Kern and Avery Rosenberg. After a two straight blocks from Kern and Rosenberg, the Prairie Stars took a timeout. Immediately out of the timeout, Durant had a nice serve that went for an ace, putting the Mavericks up by eight.

After Illinois Springfield rallied for a few points, MSU went on another huge run, scoring six-straight points, which made the score 16-4. During that stretch, Kern connected with freshman setter Jadyn Lester for a kill and contributed on two blocks with freshman Avery Klein.

While the Prairie Stars made a valiant effort to keep the set competitive, the Mavericks ran away with the opening set. A huge block from Kern and Emma Loveall forced a set-point and Minnesota State won the set 25-17 on a service error. Kern ended the first set with five block assists.

The second set was tightly contested in comparison to the first. Senior setter Brooke Bolwerk and Rosenberg connected on two-straight kills to give the Mavericks a 3-2 lead early. An ace from Durant and a block from Kern and Loveall put MSU up by three. After the Prairie Stars caught back up, three consecutive kills from Loveall made the score 8-5.
Both teams traded points back and forth. Back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Toryn Richards made the score 13-8.

Two kills and an ace from Illinois Springfield forced a Minnesota State timeout. The Mavericks had two kills and a Richards solo block out of the timeout to make the score 20-15. The Prairie Stars stormed out of their timeout on a 5-1 run, giving the Mavericks just a one-point lead. Rosenberg closed out the set for her team, recording a solo block, a block assist and a kill to push Minnesota State over the edge in set two, 25-22.

An early block from Loveall and Kern gave the Mavericks a 4-2 lead in the beginning stages of the third set. After Illinois Springfield tied up the score, Minnesota State went on a 5-1 run, thanks to kills from Kern, Richards and Loveall, which made the score 9-5.

Following two kills from Richards that gave MSU a five-point lead, the Prairie Stars cruised on a 5-0 run to tie the score at 12-12. Eirini Glynou and Makenna Cox led Illinois Springfield in that stretch, with two kills from Cox and a kill and a block from Glynou.

Like the previous set, the two teams swapped possession back-and-forth, until a block from Durant and Klein gave the Mavericks a 19-16 lead which forced a UIS timeout. Following a pair of scores from the Prairie Stars, Richards had a solo block and an ace and Durant had a kill to make the score 23-19. Illinois Springfield stormed back and nearly tied the score, but Bolwerk and Loveall connected on a kill to end the match. The Mavericks won the final set 25-23, sweeping UIS and improving to 5-0 for the first time since 2011.

Loveall and Richards led the team with nine kills each. Loveall hit .308 in the match and had three block assists. Richards had two solo blocks, one block assist, an ace and 11 digs. Kern had an excellent match, posting seven kills (.385 %) and eight block assists. Rosenberg finished with six kills, one block solo and four block assists. Durant had four kills, two service aces and four total blocks. Klein had three kills and three block assists.

Senior libero Ellie Kline recorded 15 digs and an ace from the service line against the Prairie Stars. Bolwerk finished with 16 assists and Lester had 15.
 

Game 2: Minnesota State 3, West Alabama 0
The Tigers started the opening set up 5-3 after a service error from the Mavericks. After a kill from Rosenberg, the Mavericks subbed in Madisen Miller, who had two service aces on a 7-0 run that flipped the script of the match.

Minnesota State scored three-straight on a series of errors from West Alabama. The Tigers went on a 5-1 run of their own to cut into the MSU lead which made the score 14-11. The Mavericks responded with an even bigger run of their own, storming on an 8-1 run that put the team up by 10, 22-12. Bolwerk closed out the first set for the Mavericks at the service line, serving up an ace that led to a set-point. West Alabama committed an attack error which gave the Mavericks a 25-13 victory in set one.

The two teams traded points back-and-forth to begin set two. A kill from Klein assisted by Lester started a 9-1 run for the Mavericks. On the run, Rosenberg had a kill and a block assist, Richards had a kill and Kern had a block solo and a block assist. Minnesota State was up 12-4.

West Alabama and Minnesota State traded possession several times until the Maverick lead was 17-9. A little 3-0 run from MSU was met with a 3-0 run from the Tigers' side of the net, which resulted in another 3-0 run from the Mavericks. The score was 23-12, thanks to a solo block from Richards. Another block from Kern and a service ace from Kline closed out the second set, once again by a score of 25-13.

The Mavericks jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in set three, thanks to a block from sophomore Elise Jensen and a pair of Tiger errors. However, West Alabama tied the set at 5-5 as it took advantage of a trio of MSU errors. The two teams traded scores back and forth until the Mavericks went on a quick 4-0 run that forced a UWA timeout. Richards had a kill and a service ace in the stretch.

Right out of the timeout, Richards served another ace over the net and another attack error from West Alabama made the score 14-8. Ater a pair of Tiger scores, Loveall and Kern had their own 3-0 run, with Loveall bookending a kill from the junior middle blocker from Cleveland, Minn. Minnesota State led 17-10.

The Tigers got some of their points back off three errors from the Maverick offense. Kern led Minnesota State on a 6-1 run that forced another West Alabama timeout. She had two kill and a solo block in that stretch that made the score 23-14. Two-straight aces from Cloe Bonvillian ended the run, but a service error for the Tigers ended the match in a 3-0 sweep by the Mavericks. The score of the final set was 25-18.

The Mavericks finished their second match with 30 kills, nine service aces, six blocks, 28 assists and 30 digs.

Kern led the Mavericks in kills and blocks in the match against West Alabama. She recorded a season-high 10 kills and had four blocks. Richards had five kills, two aces, one block and a match-high nine digs against the Tigers. Bolwerk had three service aces and nine assists in the match. The Mavericks' leading setter was Lester, who finished with 17 assists.

"We played well today" said Mavericks head coach Corey Phelps. "We're still learning and figuring out how to consistently play at a high level. It will be great when we put both sides of the ball together as we move forward. Our middles were virtually untouchable in the second match. We are looking forward to taking a few more steps in the right direction tomorrow as we finish the tournament."

The Mavericks close out the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, September 14 against the hosting KWC Panthers (0-5) and the Buccaneers of Christian Brothers University (4-2). Minnesota State takes on the Panthers at noon and plays CBU at 6 p.m.