FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Minnesota State volleyball team lost a back and forth five set match to No. 16 Alaska Fairbanks 3-2 on Friday, with set scores of 21-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-19, 9-15. The Mavericks won the second and fourth sets to force a fifth, where Alaska Fairbanks closed the match 15-9.
Lily Riese led Minnesota State with 13 kills and added five digs.
Jadyn Lester finished with 34 assists, 14 digs and five total blocks
. Avery Rosenberg recorded seven total blocks and added six kills while hitting .333.
Kaelyn Wieland served five aces and added four digs. The Mavericks recorded a season-high total of 13 blocks in the match.
Set One
Minnesota State scored the first two points and got early kills from Rosenberg, Riese and
Olivia Sturgis as the opening set stayed even through 6-6. Alaska Fairbanks moved in front with five straight points to lead 11-6, then pushed the margin to 20-10 behind kills from Cori Leavitt, Haylee Lyons and Cynphany Henderson, along with MSU attack errors.
The Mavericks worked back into the set, using kills from Riese, Sturgis, Lester and
Addison Foor, plus a Lester and Rosenberg block during
Savannah Meyer's service turn, to pull within 23-21 on Foor's kill from Lester. Alaska Fairbanks closed the set with a Leavitt kill and a block by Lyons and Peri Hoshock for a 25-21 win.
Set Two
After Alaska Fairbanks moved ahead 4-1 on two Haylee Lyons kills and Minnesota State errors,
Morgan Bjella's ace and Sturgis' kill helped Minnesota State pull even at 4-4 before an attack error gave it a 5-4 lead.
The set moved back and forth until Wieland's serving turn at 6-6 produced two aces around a Riese and Sturgis block for a 9-6 MSU lead, and the Mavericks later held a 17-14 advantage after kills by Foor and Riese and an Alaska Fairbanks service error. With Minnesota State ahead 18-14, Wieland served four straight points, including a Sturgis block, a Sturgis kill and back-to-back aces, to push the score to 22-14. After Alaska Fairbanks got two points back, Sturgis added a kill, teamed with Lester on a block that made it 24-16, and finished the 25-17 set win with another kill from Lester.
Set Three
After Alaska Fairbanks opened the third set with a Presley Engelauf kill and consecutive Kellan Flynn aces, Minnesota State came back behind Riese, who had four kills in Minnesota State's first eight points, all assisted by
Jadyn Lester.
The Mavericks tied the set at 4-4 and later moved in front 6-5, but after the teams traded points through 9-9, Alaska Fairbanks scored the next four and later stretched the margin to 19-11 with help from Leavitt kills and three Ashlyn White service aces. Rosenberg stopped that stretch with a kill, and Minnesota State added three more points on Alaska Fairbanks errors with help from Bjella's serve to cut it to 19-15. Sturgis had kills at 21-17 and 24-19, but Alaska Fairbanks closed the set on Lucy Braegger's kill for a 25-19 win.
Set Four
After Alaska Fairbanks used two Leavitt kills and consecutive blocks to go up 4-1, MSU worked back to 6-6 on a Sturgis block and later moved in front 8-7 on a Lucy Braegger attack error. The teams traded points through 12-11, Wieland served an ace for 13-11, and after Alaska Fairbanks pulled within 14-13, Wieland's kill, Meyer's ace and an attack error made it 17-13.
Alaska Fairbanks cut it to 17-16 on a Braegger kill and two Minnesota State attack errors, but Minnesota State answered with four straight points, including a Rosenberg-Foor block, Foor kill and Rosenberg block, to lead 21-16. Minnesota State reached 23-17 on a Riese and Rosenberg block. Riese supplied kills for 24-18 and 25-19 to close the set.
Set Five
Minnesota State faced a 4-0 deficit to open the fifth set as Alaska Fairbanks got kills from Haylee Lyons and Leavitt around two MSU attack errors, before Foor put down the Mavericks first point from Lester. Foor added another kill from Rosenberg and a Haylee Lyons attack error brought the lead within 6-3, but Alaska Fairbanks used kills by Leavitt and Peri Hoshock around another Minnesota State point to reach 8-4.
Riese's kill made it 8-5, but Lucy Braegger's kill, a Maverick attack error and a block by Presley Engelauf and Braegger pushed Alaska Fairbanks to 11-5. Sturgis followed with a kill and teamed with Foor on a block as MSU trimmed it to 11-7, and after an Alaska Fairbanks service error and a late block by Rosenberg and Lester made it 13-9, Leavitt and Engelauf closed the set for Alaska Fairbanks at 15-9.
Up next, Minnesota State volleyball team faces Tiffin on Saturday, at 5:30 p.m. CT at Alaska Airlines Gymnasium in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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