Volleyball rallies for 3-1 victory over #16 Winona State

Friday, November 15

Winona, Minn.

6:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

22-5,14-5NSIC

Winona State

20-7,12-7NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Winona St.

Linsey Rachel recorded her 18th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 20 digs in Winona.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

11/15/2019 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

WINONA, MINN. – It's supposed to be hard for a volleyball team to win on an opposing teams home court.

Friday night, the St. Cloud State University volleyball team almost made it look easy.

After dropping the opening set to #16 Winona State University, St. Cloud State rallied for its 14^th win of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) season, downing the Warriors 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20) to improve to 22-5 on the year with a 14-5 mark in conference play.

The Huskies got off to a bit of a slow start in the opening set, as Winona State's strong play took St. Cloud State's offense out of the equation. In fact, the Huskies only tallied 11 kills in the first set and committed five errors, while the Warriors were an offensive firehouse, compiling 14 kills and committing just five errors for a .250 hitting percentage.

St. Cloud State righted the ship in the second set but needed tenacity and grit to eek out its 25-23 win. In fact, the team found itself battling off a 16-12 deficit, eventually rallying to tie the set at 17 all. Huskies block was key to their comeback, as Rachel Houle (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) and Marah Mulso (Marshall, Minn. / Marshall) came up with huge back-to-back blocks to give St. Cloud State its first lead of the set at 19-18.

The Huskies would trade points with Winona State until the Warriors took a 22-21 lead with an ace from Megan Flom, forcing head coach Chad Braegelmann to call a timeout. St. Cloud State responded by taking a 24-22 lead two points later thanks to three monster kills from Phebie Rossi (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens). While Winona State managed to fight off one set point, a kill from Erin Navratil (Albany, Minn. / Albany) proved too much to handle, as the Huskies took the second set by a score of 25-23.

St. Cloud State only got better form that point on, as the team took the third set 25-22 and the fourth 25-20 to win the match 3-1. Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) was once again a dominating offensive force for the Huskies, as she recorded 15 kills and committed just three errors on 39 attempts for a .308 hitting percentage. The sophomore also tallied 20 digs for St. Cloud State, for her 17^th double-double of the 2019 season.

Rossi was impressive in the fourth set in particular, as she ended the match with 14 kills and a team-leading five blocks. Navratil also recorded double-digit kills, as she concluded the match with 10 total.

The Huskies defense was equally as impressive Friday night, as they made Winona State's formidable middle blocker duo into a nonfactor. In fact, First Team All-NSIC middle Megan Flom managed just 12 kills against St. Cloud State and committed seven errors her lowest totals in several matches.

Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) led the way defensively for the Huskies, as she recorded a team-leading 23 digs. Taylor Olstad (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan) continued her impressive second half of the season, recorded 16 digs in four matches for St. Cloud State.

Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) continued to impress as the Huskies starting setter, tallying 44 assists in the match.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 22-5 and the team is 14-5 in NSIC play. The Huskies will look to solidify their place in the conference tournament when they take on #21 Upper Iowa University at 4 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa on Saturday.