OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Minnesota State women's volleyball team (8-0) maintained its undefeated start with two wins Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan (0-7) and Christian Brothers University (4-4). The Mavericks swept both the Panthers and the Buccaneers in three sets. Maverick outside hitter Toryn Richards finished the day with 19 total kills, three service aces and five blocks. Middle blockers Kiya Durant and Emily Kern each tallied eight blocks in Saturday's matches.
 
Game 1: Minnesota State 3, Kentucky Wesleyan 0
Minnesota State's first set of the day was back-and-forth to start. Durant and Emma Loveall each had kills to give the Mavericks an early 7-5 lead. After some scoring from both sides, Kern went on a little run of her own, contributing on two block assists with teammates Richards and Avery Rosenberg and returning a ball from the Panther side of the net for a kill to make the score 13-9, Mavericks.
 
Each team had a pair of errors and Panther middle blocker Hadley Wolfe had a service ace that brought the score to 15-12. Minnesota State then went on a 5-0 run to give the team an eight-point lead over Kentucky Wesleyan. Freshman setter Jadyn Lester had an assist and two aces from the service line in that stretch. The score was 20-12.
 
Despite Kentucky Wesleyan's best efforts, Minnesota State was able to close out the set 25-17 after the Panthers hit two attack errors to close the set. The Mavericks had a hitting percentage of .333 in the first set.
 
The Mavericks took an early 2-1 lead in the second set thanks to a booming block from Kern and Rosenberg. After some middling points, MSU went on a 9-2 run to make the score 12-4. During that stretch, Lester connected with Durant for a kill, served an ace that forced a Panther timeout and had another ace from the break.
 
A block from Kern and freshmen outside hitter Avery Klein gave the Mavericks a 14-6 lead. That play was the start of another 9-2 run for the Minnesota State squad, which was capped off by another block from Kern up front, who was joined by Richards. After the run, the Mavericks led 21-8.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan squeezed out a few points, but the Mavericks closed out the set with a block from Durant and Rosenberg which gave the squad a 25-11 victory in set two.
 
Minnesota State jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead thanks to a pair of solo blocks from sophomore middle Elise Jensen. The Panthers went on a run of their own, bringing the Maverick lead back to one with a 5-2 run of their own. KWC tied the set at 8-8 on a Maverick ball handling error.
 
The Mavericks forced a Kentucky Wesleyan timeout after a 5-1 run. Lester and Klein connected for a kill, Jensen had a kill and another solo block and Richards had two kills. Brooke Bolwerk had an ace out of the timeout, which put the score at 14-9.
 
The two teams took turns scoring until Durant tallied a kill that gave the Mavericks a 19-13 lead. Despite an attempt to make things interesting, Minnesota State took care of business, closing out the match with a 25-17 win in set three. Jensen closed out the match with two kills to seal the victory.
 
The Mavericks were rock solid against Kentucky Wesleyan. MSU finished with 34 kills, six aces and 12 blocks. Kentucky Wesleyan did not hit above .000 in the match, with the Mavericks holding their opponents to a -0.088 percentage.
 
Richards led all participants with nine kills in the match. She was also tied for second on the team with six digs. Kern finished with five blocks and three kills against the Panthers. Durant had six kills (.444 %) and two block assists. Loveall hit .500 in the match with four kills, a service ace and six digs as well. Senior libero Ellie Kline had seven digs. Lester led all players with 16 assists. Jensen, who only entered the match in the final set, finished three kills and four solo blocks.
 
 
Game 2: Minnesota State 3, Christian Brothers 0
Minnesota State jumped out to a 4-1 lead right away in the first set thanks to an ace and a kill from Richards. The Buccaneers were able to get some points back with a kill from Addison Waggoner and a block which cut the Maverick lead to two.
 
The two teams traded scores until the score was 14-9 after a Lester ace. The two freshmen, Klein and Lester, connected for a kill which preceded a kill from Richards that gave the Mavericks a six-point lead and forced a CBU timeout. Service errors from both sides followed the break. A block from Kern and Klein gave Minnesota State a 19-11 advantage.
 
With the score at 20-13, Richards had a kill and served up an ace to put her team up by nine and forced another Buccaneer timeout. Christian Brothers went on a 5-2 run to close the gap, but a service error for CBU gave Minnesota State a first set win, 25-18. Richards had four kills, two aces and three digs after the opening set.
 
Durant helped the Mavericks jump out to a 4-2 lead in set two, recording two block assists with Rosenberg and Loveall for her first two blocks of the match. The Buccaneers stormed on a 10-4 run that gave the team the 12-8 lead over Minnesota State. CBU had seven kills in that stretch, including three from Calah Jackson.
 
The Mavericks followed up the run from the Buccaneers with a 7-2 run that saw Minnesota State retake the lead, 15-14. Kern and Loveall each had two kills in that stretch and Richards had a service ace. After both teams scored back-and-forth, the Bucs made three-straight errors to give MSU a 21-19 lead. Christian Brothers tallied two kills, but it was not enough; After a fake-set kill from Lester, Minnesota State won set two 25-21 on a hitting error. Both Kern and Durant had four kills in the second.
 
It was a tightly contested start to set three. After an ace from Waggoner tied it up, Durant and Richards blocked a Buccaneer shot and scored two more on an attack error and an ace from Durant to make the score 8-5. Then Kern got involved with a kill and a block to put MSU back up by three.
 
Christian Brothers remained competitive as it kept it within one score until Minnesota State went on a 4-0 run. After regaining possession on a service error, Loveall had an ace from the line, Durant and Richards combined for a block and Richards had a kill that forced a Buccaneer timeout. The Mavericks led 17-12.
 
Durant and Richards blocked another shot to put the team up by six. After CBU managed two scores, Durant had a kill and an ace and Kern had a solo block to push MSU over the 20-point mark, 21-14. The Buccaneers attempted to get back into it, going on a 6-1 run that made the score 22-20. Jackson had three kills on the run. Minnesota State scored three of the last four points, including kill from Kern to close it out, securing its eighth win of the 2024 season. The Mavericks took the final set 25-21.
 
Minnesota State had 39 kills, seven aces, nine blocks and 50 digs in the win over Christian Brothers.
 
Richards and Kern led the Mavericks with 10 kills each. Richards also finished the match with three aces, three blocks and 11 digs. Kern contributed three blocks of her own. Durant tallied six blocks, seven kills and two service aces against the Buccaneers. Bolwerk was the leading setter in game two, assisting on 22 kills. Rosenberg also had three block assists in the match.
 
"Outstanding energy all weekend from this group," said Minnesota State head coach Corey Phelps. "To not drop a set in the last 14 is an achievement to be proud of. We played hard this weekend and learned a lot about finding ways to win even when we aren't executing at our best. We showed some serious grit and grew closer as a team."
 
The Mavericks look to maintain their undefeated start next Thursday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m. to take on the #7 Huskies of St. Cloud State (5-2). Minnesota State leads the all-time series against SCSU 33-24, but the Huskies have bested the Mavericks in three-straight matchups.