St. Cloud State
9-3,4-0NSIC
Southwest Minnesota State
11-1,3-1NSIC
Huskies handle Mustangs in 3-0 sweep
9/24/2021 10:58:00 PM | Volleyball
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – They say the spirit of the west belongs to the Mustang. The #20 St. Cloud State University volleyball team had something to say about that Friday night.
The Huskies dismantled both the saying and the #5 Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs Friday evening and earned their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) sweep along the way. In one of the most highly anticipated matches of the season, St. Cloud State dominated en route to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-19) win over SMSU, improving to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in NSIC play.
SPIRIT OF THE WEST
The Huskies had something to say about the Mustangs #5 ranking and unbeaten record, as they handed SMSU its first overall and NSIC loss of the 2021 season. Entering Friday's contest, SMSU was riding an 11 match win-streak, including a 3-0 mark in NSIC play. Fueled by the underdog mentality, St. Cloud State hit .308 as a team in the victory, with 47 team kills on 107 attempts for just seven errors. The Huskies also served incredibly well Friday afternoon against one of the top serve receive teams in the NSIC, as they tallied six aces, including two by Rachel Houle (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater).
Of course, it wasn't entirely smooth sailing by St. Cloud State. After leading throughout the entirety of the first and second sets, the Huskies found themselves in a five point deficit to start the third set, as the Mustangs raced out to a 10-5 lead. Thanks to a strong serve from Houle, including back-to-back aces, St. Cloud State rallied to cut the lead to 10-8 and eventually tied the set at 14-14, fueled this time by the serve of setter Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy). From there, the Huskies took a two point lead they would never relinquish, eventually winning the set 25-19 for their first NSIC sweep of the 2021 season.
TOP HUSKIES
- Sophomore outside Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa / Sergeant Bluff-Luton) once again led the Huskies in kills, tallying 18 in the three set victory to go along with a team-leading 11 kills. So far this season, the sophomore is averaging 3.79 kills per set while hitting .315 as an outside hitter.
- Defensively, three Huskies tallied 10+ digs in the three-set win. First year libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn. / Hill-Murray) led the way with Foley, tallying 11 digs during the match, while Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) closed the match with 33 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
BEWARE, BEWARE THE NO. 5 RANKING
St. Cloud State really likes playing opponents who are ranked fifth in the country. Last weekend, the then #23 Huskies upended #5 Wayne State in four sets before defeating #5 SMSU this weekend. It marks the first time in 10+ years the Huskies have defeated two different opponents with the same national ranking in back-to-back weekends and marks their second consecutive weekend with a win over a nationally ranked opponent.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Chad Braegelmann on the Mustangs:
"I thought our women did a fantastic job tonight of competing at a high level. It wasn't our best passing match of the year, but we served tough. We also blocked a bunch of balls and were very aggressive with our swings on offense. It was a fun environment to play in against a great team in SMSU. We will enjoy this win tonight and then quickly turn our focus to a very solid Sioux Falls team."
UP NEXT
The grind continues for St. Cloud State, as the team travels to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for another NSIC showdown with the University of Sioux Falls. First serve against the Cougars is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
