Foley’s double-double leads No. 9 Huskies to sweep of Drury

Friday, August 26

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

2-0,0-0NSIC

Drury

0-2,0-0GLVC

Drury

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

Foley’s double-double leads No. 9 Huskies to sweep of Drury

8/26/2022 9:35:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Reigning DII Freshman of the Year posts 19 kills and 15 digs on .514 hitting

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 9 St. Cloud State Volleyball began Friday evening by unveiling their 2021 NSIC Championship banner and closed it with a straight-set win over Drury at Halenbeck Hall.

Outside hitter Kenzie Foley hit .514 with 19 kills and 15 digs to fuel the sweep. Foley's double-double was supported by Sam Zimmerman's seven kills on .429 hitting while Linsey Rachel added eight kills of her own. Emma Berran found a rhythm early with Foley, piling up a career-high 36 assists in her second collegiate match.

Libero Keely Kurschner recorded a career-best 23 digs and directed a Huskies serve receive that was perfect on the night. Rachel Houle, Emily Kern and Linsey Rachel each had two aces as SCSU dominated the serve-and-pass game.

Turning Point

After taking the first set 25-23 in thrilling fashion, the Huskies dominated in the second – hitting .361 and holding Drury to just seven kills and a .061 hitting percentage. St. Cloud State sided out on 75% of their chances in the middle frame.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"Our serve-and-pass game was what won it for us tonight. I thought we did a fantastic job in serve receive, our servers put them in a lot of uncomfortable spots – we had six aces and they had zero. If you win the serve-and-pass, it makes other things a lot easier. Kenzie Foley was really good offensively, Sam Zimmerman was really comfortable offensively. Overall, pretty happy with our performance as a team."

On Kenzie Foley's incredible performance… "She does a nice job. It's nice when you have a National Freshman of the Year at your disposal – it makes the rest of what you're trying to do a lot easier."

On Keely Kurschner's career night… "I thought she did a much better job of being stopped, running down the deep tips and the roll shots tonight. That's what you need your libero to do if you want to play at a high level. She's got to defend and she has to pass well, and that's what Keely did tonight."

On Sam Zimmerman's strong start to the season… "We thought she did some really nice things in the spring – for a portion of the spring season she was hitting .380 for us. Back-to-back .400's? We'll take that. She has a nice arm, a really fast-twitch kid, goes off one foot behind the setter really well. It's been fun to watch her get some kills."

Notables

Kenzie Foley is averaging 5.33 kills per set with 32 in her first two matches, hitting .409 to open the season
Foley's 19 kills are the most in a three-set match by a Husky since Linsey Rachel had 19 on September 27, 2019 at Minnesota State-Mankato
Keely Kurschner's 23 digs and six assists both set new career-highs
Sam Zimmerman posted five blocks to lead all players
Zimmerman leads the Huskies with a .423 hitting percentage through two matches
Emma Berran is averaging 11.83 assists per set with 73 in two matches
SCSU was 46-for-46 on serve receive while recording six aces of their own
With eight kills, Linsey Rachel is now 24 away from moving into fourth all-time in program history
St. Cloud State is now 25-3 at Halenbeck Hall since 2019 and has won 28 of their last 31 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.