No. 7 St. Cloud State falls in five at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth

Tuesday, October 25

Duluth, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

19-5,11-5NSIC

Minnesota Duluth

22-2,14-2NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Minn. Duluth

Photo by: Thomas Breach

No. 7 St. Cloud State falls in five at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth

10/25/2022 10:35:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Depleted Huskies drop heartbreaker at Romano Gymnasium

DULUTH, Minn. – No. 7 St. Cloud State Volleyball battled to the very end in a roller coaster match at Romano Gymnasium, falling in five sets to No. 4 Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday evening.

The Huskies found themselves with a depleted defensive unit early in the match as both Keely Kurschner and Rachel Houle exited by the midway point of the second set. Emily Kern and Allena Shimon stepped up into critical roles, with Kern donning the libero shirt and Shimon playing DS for the first time in her collegiate career. Both helped St. Cloud State stay in rhythm, fighting punch-for-punch with UMD.

Linsey Rachel sent down a season-high 20 kills on .356 hitting, adding eight digs and a block. Phebie Rossi hit .343 with 16 kills and four blocks while Kenzie Foley added a 13-kill, 18-dig double-double.

The final three sets were each decided by two points. SCSU hit .310 or better in three of the five sets, outhitting the Bulldogs .266 to .237.

Turning Point
After the third and fourth set saw both offenses hit .343 or better, defense returned to focus in the fifth. Minnesota Duluth had 11 kills to the Huskies' six in the final set, converting on five more swings to take a thrilling final frame 15-13. The fifth included seven ties and three lead changes.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"I'm really proud of our women again. They battled well against a top-five team in the country – nothing to hang our heads about when you play like that with your libero out and a pillar of your energy on the court also down. A real tip of the cap to Allena Shimon for jumping into a role she's really never played at DS. Emily Kern was fantastic out there as well. I'm proud of our women. I wouldn't want to coach anybody else."

"Our women do a great job of preparing each other in practice daily. I think you saw that – Emily and Allena's confidence – I don't think we ever really skipped a beat with them out there. That's taking nothing away from Keely and Rachel, as they've been phenomenal for 23 matches. We did a tremendous job of continuing to put pressure on the opposing team and being good teammates out there. Great communication, great energy. It was a really fun match tonight."

On Rachel and Rossi's big nights… "They were fantastic. Linsey had some great swings – early on we all struggled in that first set, it put us behind the eight-ball a little bit. I'm super proud of the way we responded in the second and third set, even in the fourth set we had some chances to win there."

Keys moving forward… "First thing's going to be rest. The second piece is going back to the drawing board to see where we're at. If we play the way we did tonight every night, we're going to beat a lot of teams. I was really pleased with how we played tonight. We've had some matches that we've won where I couldn't say that, but if we play like this, I really like St. Cloud State Volleyball. I don't think many teams are going to want to play us."

Notables

Linsey Rachel put away a season-high 20 kills on .356 hitting with eight digs and a block
Phebie Rossi hit .343 with 16 kills and four blocks
Kenzie Foley had 13 kills and 18 digs for a double-double
The double-double is her 13^th of the season
Emily Kern had a career-high 11 digs and recorded her first collegiate kill
The Huskies eclipsed 60 kills for the first time since their October 7 match against Upper Iowa
SCSU lost for just the second time this season when outhitting their opponent – both times they have played Minnesota Duluth

Up Next
The Huskies embark on their final road trip of the regular season with a visit to MSU-Moorhead and Northern State on Friday and Saturday. First serve for the two matches are set for 6:00 and 5:00 p.m. CT respectively.

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.