No. 4 St. Cloud State falls in five-set thriller at No. 7 SMSU

Saturday, October 1

Marshall, Minn.

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

14-2,6-2NSIC

Southwest Minnesota State

14-2,6-2NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Southwest Minn. St.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

No. 4 St. Cloud State falls in five-set thriller at No. 7 SMSU

10/2/2022 12:29:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

Rossi sends down career-best 27 kills on .458 hitting, Huskies lose 2-1 match lead

MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 4 St. Cloud State Volleyball dropped a five-set heartbreaker to No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday evening in Marshall, losing a 2-1 lead in the match and a 14-11 advantage in the fifth set.

Phebie Rossi delivered a career day for SCSU, terminating a career-high 27 kills on .458 hitting to go with two aces and four blocks. The senior middle blocker scored 32.0 points, leading all players.

Kenzie Foley added 14 kills, four blocks and four digs while fellow outside Linsey Rachel kicked in 11 kills and five digs. Sam Zimmerman provided 10 kills on .318 hitting, leading SCSU with five blocks including three solo stuffs.

Emma Berran directed the offense to 71 kills, dishing out a career-best 58 assists and adding eight digs. Keely Kurschner led the Huskies with 10 digs.

Turning Point

After taking a 14-11 lead in the decisive fifth set, Southwest Minnesota State went on a 7-2 run to take the match. Three Huskies attacking errors kept momentum on the Mustangs' side.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"Definitely a fun match to compete in, a good environment in the gym. Southwest put a lot of pressure on us all night long. Falling behind early in sets one and four put us down in a tough spot – it's hard to continue to play catch-up all the time."

On Phebie Rossi's tremendous evening… "Phebie was fantastic offensively for us today, and very solid with her block as well. She had kills in a bunch of big points in the match, and definitely had a career night."

On takeaways from the weekend… "We know the NSIC is a fantastic conference, and there are no easy matches. There's a reason why Southwest Minnesota State is ranked top-10 in the country."

Notables

Phebie Rossi sent down a career-high 27 kills on .458 hitting, adding four blocks and two aces
Rossi's 27 kills and 32.0 points are both match individual highs for SCSU this season
Rossi has hit .320 or better in eight of her last nine matches while recording double-digit kills in each of her last four
Kenzie Foley put away 14 kills with four digs and four blocks
Linsey Rachel terminated 11 kills and had five digs
Sam Zimmerman hit .318 with 10 kills, setting a career-best with three solo blocks
Emma Berran racked up a career-best 58 assists
The Huskies had not dropped a fifth set since November 8, 2019 against Minnesota State-Mankato

Up Next

The Huskies return home for three matches next week, hosting Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday evening before welcoming Upper Iowa and Winona State to Halenbeck Hall on October 7-8.

Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.