Huskies split to close Northern Michigan Tourney

Saturday, September 1

Marquette, Mich.

11 a.m. EST

St. Cloud State

4-1 (0-0NSIC)

Michigan Tech

6-1 (0-0GLIAC)

SCSU

MTU

Photo by: Paul Middlestaedt

9/1/2018 9:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MARQUETTE, MICH. – The St. Cloud State University volleyball team was rolling high entering the second day of the Northern Michigan University Wildcat Open. The Huskies opened the tournament with two sweeps on Friday and were looking for more against Michigan Technical University and host Northern Michigan. After two hard fought matches, St. Cloud State finished the day with a split, defeating the other Huskies 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-8) in the opening match before falling 3-1 (15-25, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26) a hard-fought match to the host Wildcats.

The Huskies started the day by handing Michigan Tech its first loss of the season in a big 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-8) comeback victory. After taking an early 1-0, St. Cloud State quickly fell behind 2-1 after losing the second and third sets 14-25 and 18-25. However, the Huskies certainly weren't down for the count, as they won the fourth 25-18 to force the decisive fifth set, which they went on to win by a score of 15-8.

In the battle of the Huskies, the two teams were evenly matched, but it was St. Cloud State's firepower on offense that eventually won the match. In fact, the Huskies hit over .500 in the first and fifth set, making just one error while tallying a combined 24 kills. The team's offense wasn't slouching in the must-win fourth either, as St. Cloud State hit .353 as a team with 15 kills and just three errors on 34 attempts.

Setter Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) captained the Huskies offense, as she assisted on 40 of the team's 59 kills during the match, a then-career high for the sophomore. Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake), Krista Kuglin (Minnetonka, Minn. / Minnetonka) and Marah Mulso (Marshall, Minn. / Marshall) led the charge as hitters, as they each recorded double-digit kills in five sets, led by Rachel's 13. Kuglin and Mulso both recorded 12 kills in the match and led the charge blocking, as they accounted for 10 of the team's 18 block assists, resulting in nine blocks at crucial points in the game.

Defensively, St. Cloud State was strong in multiple facets, as the team recorded nearly double the blocks and six more digs than Michigan Tech. In addition to Mulso and Kuglin's fantastic play at the net, Torve tallied three block assists, while Rachel, Erin Navratil (Albany, Minn. / Albany) and Micah Nier (Hatley, Wis. / Wittenberg-Birnamwood) each had a hand in one block.

Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) led the team in digs with 23, her highest total of the season. She also moved to fifth all-time in the record book for career digs with 1162. Torve added 13 and Taylor Olstad (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan) added 12 in the five-set marathon.

Unfortunately, St. Cloud State's luck did not continue in the second match of the day, as the team fell to host Northern Michigan 3-1 (15-25, 23-25, 25-22, 24-26). Despite the final, though, it was one of the tightest contests of the season for the Huskies, as they hung with the Wildcats every step of the way.

After the opening set, in which St. Cloud State hit just .172 as a team and tallied its lowest kill and dig total of the match, the team played three tightly contested sets, not losing by more than two points in a single one. In fact, in the tightly contested second set, the Huskies led 20-18 in the latter stages thanks to a kill by Rachel. However, St. Cloud State was unable to hold on to the lead, as Northern Michigan won seven of the next 11 points to win the match 25-23.

The Huskies were able to take the third set and force the fourth thanks to their 25-22 victory. St. Cloud State jumped to an early 8-4 lead thanks to a serving run by Nier that forced the Wildcat offense out of system. While Northern Michigan tried to chip away at the Huskies lead, the host team was never able to catch St. Cloud State, as Rachel closed the set with a kill to win 25-22.

After the huge third set victory, the Huskies tried to hold the momentum and win the fourth to force the decisive fifth set, but unfortunately, a second five-set match wasn't in the cards. Still, the two teams battled it out in the fourth set, with neither team leading more than three points. However, it looked like St. Cloud State was going to break away after winning three consecutive points to take a 20-17 lead over the Wildcats. Northern Michigan, though, managed to even the score at 22-22 on an attack error by Abby Templin (Cold Spring, Minn. / ROCORI). The Huskies answered by winning the very next point, taking a 23-22 lead but the two teams traded points until they were both deadlocked at 24-24.

Unfortunately, St. Cloud State was unable to score after Rachel's kill to tie the match at 24-24, resulting in the 26-24 loss to Northern Michigan. Still, there was plenty of positives for the Huskies in the loss, as Rachel recorded a new career-high in kills with 19, and Torve's career-high 45 assists was also a highlight. Templin and Nier also recorded double-digit kills in the loss with 12 and 10 respectively.

With the split, St. Cloud State is now 4-2 on the season and has yet to play a match in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. The Huskies will get their first crack at a conference opponent next week Thursday when they host the University of Minnesota-Crookston at 6 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall. Tickets are available for purchase at www.scsutickets.com.