Volleyball rolls to quarterfinal win over Wayne State

Friday, November 22

Sioux Falls, S.D.

5 p.m.

St. Cloud State

24-5,15-5NSIC

Wayne State

24-7,13-6NSIC

Wayne St. (NE)

St. Cloud St.

Phebie Rossi (12) and Erin Navratil (1) combine for a block in the Huskies NSIC quarterfinal win over Wayne State.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

11/22/2019 7:25:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

SOUIX FALLS, S.D. – Maybe it was destiny that pitted the St. Cloud State University volleyball team against Wayne State College in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament. Maybe it was fate. Either way, St. Cloud State had an opportunity to avenge an early season loss and advance to the conference tournament semifinals in its very first appearance.

Again, maybe it was fate. Maybe it was destiny, but the Huskies avenged that early season sweep in dominant fashion, sweeping Wayne State 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) to advance to the NSIC semifinals for the first time in program history.

St. Cloud State wasted no time jumping out to an early lead, as first year serving specialist Abigail Groeneweg (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) served the Huskies to an early 4-0 lead over the Wildcats. Though Wayne State would threaten to cut St. Cloud State's lead several times, the Wildcats never got within closer than within three, as Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) and Phebie Rossi (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) were unstoppable offensively. The two combined for eight of the Huskies 15 first set kills, help the team clinch a 25-17 first set victory.

Things were a smidge bit different in the second set, as Wayne State used tough serving and strong offensive play to hang with St. Cloud State through the first 14 points of play. Another key serving run and strong blocking allowed the Huskies to take a late 12-9 lead over the Wildcats. From that point on, St. Cloud State continued to cruise, as the team extended its lead to 21-16 thanks to kills from Erin Navratil (Albany, Minn. / Albany) and strong serves from Groeneweg.

The Wildcats weren't simply going to give the Huskies the win, as they made things interesting late in the set. With St. Cloud State ahead 21-16, Wayne State started to make a comeback, closing the gap to 23-19 then 24-20. However, the Wildcats had to serve off four set points, and that simply wasn't going to happen with Rachel in the front row, as the sophomore sealed the set for the Huskies with a monster kill from the left side.

After the 25-20 second set win, St. Cloud State hit a bit of a snag in set three, as it was Wayne State who jumped out to an early 7-4 lead. Serving errors and miscues by the Wildcats allowed the Huskies to stay in the set, as they would win five of the next six points to take a 9-8 lead thanks to kills from Chloe Dousette (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall).

The two teams would trade points from that point on, with neither holding a bigger lead than two points. It looked like things were starting to roll St. Cloud State's way, as the team took a late 22-19 lead in the set. Again, Wayne State made this interesting, cutting the Huskies lead to 22-21 before pulling within one at 24-23.

Then, St. Cloud State won the match without even playing a ball. The Huskies needed just one point to win the match, and they got it for free, as the Wildcats served the ball out of bounds, allowing St. Cloud State to clinch the 3-0 sweep 25-23.

The Huskies offense was on fire from start to finish, as they hit .280 as a team with 48 kills and just 15 errors on 118 attempts. Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) played a huge roll in St. Cloud State's offensive success, as she tallied 39 assists in 100 set attempts. Rachel and Dousette led the way with 11 kills apiece, while Rossi and Navratil each closed the match with 10 kills each.

Defensively, the Huskies were a force to be reckoned with as they have all season, as they racked up 62 digs and nine total blocks in the victory. Rachel led the way in digs, as she led the team and match with 19 total, while senior libero Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn./ North St. Paul) added 13.

St. Cloud State's blocking, though, was truly the story of the match, as the team's nine blocks came at crucial times throughout the three sets. Leading the way was Rossi, as she tied her career-high with seven block assists in the match, while Torve recorded four of her own.

With the victory, the Huskies overall record improves to 24-5 and they are officially 1-0 in NSIC postseason play. St. Cloud State will return to action on Saturday, November 23 and will play eight-seeded Upper Iowa in the semifinal match at 7 p.m. in the Sanford Pentagon.