Huskies drop five set heartbreaker to MSU

Friday, November 8

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 p.m.

St. Cloud State

20-5,12-5NSIC

Minnesota State-Mankato

16-9,9-7NSIC

Minnesota St.

St. Cloud St.

Linsey Rachel recorded yet another double-double in Friday evening's loss to Minnesota State.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

11/8/2019 9:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University volleyball team beat Minnesota State University in all categories but one Friday evening in Halenbeck Hall. That one was what mattered the most: the final score.

Despite outplaying the Mavericks in every facet of the game, literally every facet, the Huskies fell in five sets to their foe in heartbreaking fashion, as Minnesota State came back to beat St. Cloud State 3-2 (25-10, 23-25, 25-19, 25-27, 11-15) on its own home court.

The Huskies got off to a hot start in the opening set, as they dominated en route to their 25-10 opening victory. In fact, St. Cloud State hit .435 as a team in the opener, with 13 kills and just three errors committed on 23 attack attempts. The Huskies defense was even better, holding the Mavericks to a -.174 hitting percentage as a team while compiling two blocks and over 10 digs as a team.

St. Cloud State, though, hit a bit of a speed bump in the second set, as strong serves from Minnesota State forced the Huskies into an early 6-1 deficit. St. Cloud State was not about to be deterred, as the strong serve of Rachel Houle (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) pulled the Huskies within one at 6-5.

The two teams would trade the lead from that point on, with neither holding a bigger lead than two points. Eventually, though, the Mavericks managed to jump ahead 24-22 on back-to-back kills from Morgan Olson. The Huskies fought off one set point on a kill by Chloe Dousette (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) but was unable to repeat the magic, as Minnesota State evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set victory.

St. Cloud State quickly righted the ship in the third, dominating again en route to its 25-19 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Things once again took a wayward turn in the fourth, as the Huskies found themselves playing catch up early and often in the set. St. Cloud State always managed to stay within two points of the Mavericks, until a four point serving run gave Minnesota State a 20-15 advantage late in the set.

It looked like the teams were destined to play a fifth set, until Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) took matters into their own hands, Rachel from the service line and Dousette at the net. The two student-athletes helped the Huskies win five straight points, cutting the Mavericks lead to 20-19. Though Minnesota State managed to stop the bleeding, St. Cloud State died things up with two huge blocks on Olson, courtesy of Erin Navratil (Albany, Minn. / Albany), Marah Mulso (Marshall, Minn. / Marshall) and Phebie Rossi (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens), tying the set at 21-21.

The momentum seemed to swing the Huskies direction after the back-to-back blocks, but the Mavericks won three of the next four points to take a 24-22 lead. St. Cloud State fought off the first set point with a kill by Rossi before Rachel's solo block on Olson tied the set at 24-24 and again seemed to swing the momentum in the Huskies direction.

Sadly it wasn't meant to be. Despite strong play from Rachel and the St. Cloud State defense, Minnesota State still managed to prevail for the 27-25 victory to force the decisive fifth set. Then, things seemed to unravel for the Huskies, as they couldn't hold on to their early 7-4 lead, falling 15-11 in the set and 3-2 in the match.

St. Cloud State won the stat battle in every way possible, as the team recorded 68 kills, 61 assists, eight aces, 13 blocks and a season high 90 digs in the five set loss, all of which were significantly higher than Minnesota State's numbers. However, the Huskies had no answer for Olson, who recorded 24 kills for the Mavericks.

Navratil, Rachel and Rossi all recorded double-digit kills in the match, with Navratil leading the way with a career-high 18. Rachel recorded yet another double-double with 17 kills and a career-high 25 digs, while Rossi added 13 kills and a team-leading six block assists in the loss.

Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) and Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) continued to impress in their respective areas of play. Torve recorded a career-high 58 assists in the loss, while Krenz led the way defensively with a season-high 28 digs as the team's libero. Torve, as well as Taylor Olstad (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan) each recorded 10+ digs, Torve with 11 and Olstad with 10 respectively.

With the loss, St. Cloud State's overall record falls to 20-5 and the team is now 12-5 in NSIC play. The Huskies will return to action on Saturday when they host perennial power Concordia-St. Paul at 2 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.