No. 9 Huskies earn Opening Night win in straight sets

Thursday, August 25

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

1-0,0-0NSIC

Oklahoma Baptist

0-1,0-0GAC

Okla. Baptist

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Thomas Breach

8/25/2022 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

SCSU hit .327 and held RV Oklahoma Baptist to a .171 hitting percentage

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 9 St. Cloud State Volleyball relied on an electric offense to take down RV Oklahoma Baptist in straight sets on Opening Night at Halenbeck Hall.

Freshman setter Emma Berran directed the offense well with 35 assists as her hitters posted a .327 attack percentage. Kenzie Foley led all players with 13 kills on .290 hitting while Linsey Rachel recorded a 10-kill, 10-dig double-double and hit .304. Phebie Rossi added seven kills and five blocks for a strong opening night. Fellow middles Sam Zimmerman (.417) and Makena Hollman (.444) each put down six kills while hitting over .400. Keely Kurschner led all players with 15 digs as SCSU outdug Oklahoma Baptist 47-37.

Turning Point

After taking the first set 25-23, the Huskies settled into a lethal rhythm in the second. SCSU posted 16 kills with zero errors on 29 swings, hitting .552 and siding out on 15 of 17 chances on serve receive. St. Cloud State's defense likewise locked in with four blocks, going on to force OBU into seven errors in the third as they held the Bison to hit .033.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"I'm proud of the women, especially in the last set and a half. I thought we were pretty flat in the first set and a half, we called a timeout at 12-12 and challenged them to play better defense. We asked them to exert their will on the block, and I thought our women did a really good job of responding to that."

On the Huskies' strong second set… "Our passers did a great job, our defense did a great job and Emma put them in some really good spots offensively. I thought she made some excellent decisions on who should get the ball – I look at the set distribution, and she did a nice job there."

On Emma Berran's strong debut… "I thought she did a really nice job of keeping her composure – I thought she did a really nice job of forcing our middles in transition. She got some nice one-on-ones with our hitters. Overall, she was very composed out there, really helped us turn the momentum in the second set."

Notables

Emma Berran's 35 assists were most in a Huskies debut since Marissa Kline tallied 36 on September 6, 2013 at Drury
With her 10 kills, Linsey Rachel is now 32 away from moving into fourth all-time in program history
Rachel's double-double is the 57^th of her Huskies career
Keely Kurschner's 15 digs match her career-high, set last season in her collegiate debut against UW-Parkside
The Huskies sided out on 70.2% of their chances
St. Cloud State has seven-straight home openers dating back to 2015 – each under head coach Chad Braegelmann
SCSU is now 24-2 at Halenbeck Hall since 2019 and has won 27 of their last 29 home matches.

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.