Foley fuels upset of No. 2 Wildcats as No. 7 St. Cloud State punches ticket to Sweet 16

Saturday, November 19

Wayne, Neb.

7:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

28-5,15-5NSIC

Wayne State

30-3,19-1NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Wayne St. (NE)

Photo by: Thomas Breach

Foley fuels upset of No. 2 Wildcats as No. 7 St. Cloud State punches ticket to Sweet 16

11/19/2022 11:59:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Kenzie Foley goes 30 and 20 as SCSU terminates 75 kills in four-set win over Wayne State

WAYNE, Neb. – Outside hitter Kenzie Foley hit .431 with a 30-kill, 20-dig double-double as No. 7 St. Cloud State took down top-seeded No. 2 Wayne State on their home court in Saturday's Round of 32, advancing to the Sweet 16 on Sunday at Rice Auditorium.

Foley's 30 kills are the third-most ever recorded by a Husky in a single match as she became the first player to send down 30 or more kills since Cami Selbitschka put away 32 on October 18, 1996 against South Dakota State. She is the first player in program history to have 30 kills and 20 digs in a single match.

The Sergeant Bluff native's herculean night was supported by Linsey Rachel's 22 kills and 19 digs alongside a 12 kill, seven-block night from Phebie Rossi. Freshman setter Emma Berran continued her phenomenal postseason run, piling up 63 assists and converting on 44.7% of her sets – adding 14 digs for a double-double as the Huskies sent down a season-high 75 kills – establishing a new program record for kills in a four set match. Berran also eclipsed Jen Waterman's first-year record for set assists in a single season with her 1184^th of the campaign, recorded early in the first set.

An incredible first set aligned the pieces for what would be a true NCAA Tournament Classic, drawing the score even 16 times with five lead changes. Foley terminated 10 kills with just one error on 18 swings (.500) in the set as Berran piled up 20 assists. Rachel chipped in 10 digs and six kills as St. Cloud State took the opening set 30-28, outkilling the Wildcats 22-17 and quieting the home crowd early.

The Huskies found their rhythm early in the second set, posting a 16-1-38 hitting line for a .395 efficiency mark. Foley had seven kills while Rachel added four and Makena Hollman went 3-0-6 in the frame. Keely Kurschner had five digs to help SCSU stay in system at will – anchoring a serve receive that did not allow an ace in the final three sets. A 82% sideout rate punctuated a 25-16 second set win, putting the Huskies firmly in the driver's seat for a Sweet 16 berth.

St. Cloud State's offense put away 19 more kills in the third including seven each by Rachel and Foley, but nine attacking errors led to a 25-22 Wayne State win. The Huskies kept things close throughout – battling punch for punch and piling up 20 digs in the set.

Rossi reasserted her dominance in the final frame, terminating on six of her eight swings to lead a reinvigorated Huskies offense. Berran leaned heavily on her All-Americnas as Foley and Rachel combined for 11 kills to go with Rossi's six, accounting for 17 of the Huskies' 19 in the set. Fantastic work at the service line by SCSU kept Wayne away from their middles, forcing them to set their outsides 18 times as opposed to just 14 swings total for Beller and Brahmer. St. Cloud State closed out the fourth set 25-22, punching their ticket to Sunday's Sweet 16 match against No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"First of all – Wayne State was unbelievable tonight. They've had a fantastic season and are really, really good volleyball players. In boxing terms, it was a heavyweight fight. Blow for blow, kill for kill, stuff blocks – they outblocked us tonight. They're well-coached, a classy group and have done a fantastic job hosting. A tip of the cap to Wayne State."

"I'm very proud of our women tonight. We had 75 kills in four sets, Kenzie was fantastic offensively, Phebie was fantastic making adjustments in the third and fourth set after she struggled a bit to start and Linsey had an amazing night. It was a great team effort overall, everybody did what they needed to do and stayed in the moment. Trust has been our word recently – our women did a fantastic job of that tonight."

"It's way easier to play in front. You know you've got one in the bag. Then when you have a set where you struggle a bit like we saw in the third, it's not the end of the world. In the second set we started out okay, built that 2-0 lead and took some of that pressure off our back. It was fun – we didn't have to go to five, and our women found a way to finish that fourth set. It changes your mindset a little bit. You can be more aggressive, make a few more errors – we'll take those in exchange for a W."

"As a freshman setter, there's a lot of pressure in this league. You can go back and look over the past 10 years of NSIC Volleyball – good luck finding another freshman setter that helps you win NCAA Tournament matches. That list won't be super long. Trust, building the chemistry over the spring season and multiple fall seasons is super important. Emma has been fantastic. It's hard – we ask a lot of them. I'm proud of the job everyone did. Makena and Sam weren't super efficient today, but they got big swings when we needed them. Everybody had an opportunity to help out."

"When you're able to win the serve-and-pass game – and it was close tonight – you get them out of system. You've got a team that's very middle-dependent, their middles are so darn good, if you can get that pass 10, 12 feet off the net it's going to make it harder for them to get set. Or if they go to the outsides or right sides, it makes it easier to double-block. I was proud of our women. Kenzie, Linsey and Keely back there passing did a nice job tonight."

Quotables – St. Cloud State junior outside hitter Kenzie Foley

"Coming into tonight, I wanted to see my seniors get another game. That was huge for us. We want to get back to Seattle and prove that we can make some noise there. Trusting that my team would be to cover my swings, staying super aggressive and not tipping balls – I knew Wayne State had a really good defense and would pick up those tips. Staying aggressive, hitting hard and tooling high off hands where they can't touch it."

"Wayne State is a big one. It's kind of a home match for me – my hometown's 40 minutes away from here – so having that support from my house, having my brother down for the game, being able to prove to myself that I'm able to do everything I can to help us have success as a team. At the end of the day we all want to keep playing, and we're going to keep playing."

Quotables – St. Cloud State senior middle blocker Phebie Rossi

"Wayne had a great crowd tonight. You could tell that their fans wanted it just as much as the team. They made it hard for us and our parents to bring the energy tonight, but our bench did such a great job of bringing a lot of energy. They called shots and told us what to do next – the court brought the energy, fueled by our bench. That was so much fun – it was a great atmosphere tonight."

"We all know Taya Beller is one rocking middle – she's pretty awesome, I'm jealous of her talent. We just focused on doing what we do best out in the gym, we worked our buts off to close every block, we drop those inside hands – I felt if we did that tonight, we could be successful. From the back court, our outsides setting up a great block on the pins, it all came together. It was a team effort tonight to shut her down – it was really fun."
Notables

Kenzie Foley had a night for the ages, terminating a career-high 30 kills and providing 20 digs while hitting .431 with three blocks and two aces
Foley is the first Husky to record 30-plus kills in a match since 1996 (Cami Selbitscka) as her 30 kills are third-most in a single match in program history
She is also the first player in program history to record 30 kills and 20 digs in one match
Linsey Rachel double-doubled with a season-high 22 kills and 19 digs, hitting .286 on the night
The grad student is 25 points away from becoming the program's all-time leader, which would pass Kathy Davis (88')
Emma Berran had 63 assists, 14 digs and three blocks while establishing a new single-season assist record for a first-year Husky
Berran's 63 assists are the 8^th most in a single match in program history
This postseason, the true freshman is averaging 12.79 assists/set while converting on 40.8% of her sets and directing the offense to 15.32 kills/set
Phebie Rossi added 12 kills on .286 hitting while piling up seven blocks
Keely Kurschner dug out 14 swings, added five assists and was 41-for-42 in serve receive
The Huskies' 75 kills are the 9^th most in a single match in program history and are the most ever by the Huskies in a four set match
SCSU outkilled Wayne State 75-55 and outhit them .294 to .270
SCSU also outdug Wayne 83-60
Wayne State has lost just twice at home in their last 14 matches at Rice Auditorium – both at the hands of the Huskies
St. Cloud State is now 4-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 14-17 all-time including AIAW national play
The Huskies are now 10-3 in postseason play under head coach Chad Braegelmann and 2-2 in NCAA Tournament competition
St. Cloud State has punched their ticket to their first Sweet 16 since 1996, where they defeated Northern Colorado before falling to Barry in the Elite 8

Up Next
The Huskies advance to the NCAA Central Region Final in the Sweet 16 on Sunday evening, squaring off with second seed No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul in a rematch of the 2022 NSIC Tournament Final. First serve is set for 4:00 p.m. CT at Rice Auditorium with live coverage available on the NSIC Network and 88.1 FM KVSC.

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.