Defense shines as No. 9 SCSU sweeps Seattle Pacific

Saturday, August 27

St. Cloud, Minn.

Noon CT

St. Cloud State

3-0,0-0NSIC

Seattle Pacific

1-2,0-0Great Northwest

Seattle Pacific

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

8/27/2022 2:45:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Huskies hold Falcons to just 21 kills on .057 hitting while Foley supplies 15 kills

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 9 St. Cloud State Volleyball showed off their stifling defense in a straight-set win over Seattle Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Halenbeck Hall.

SCSU allowed just 21 kills on the afternoon, forcing the Falcons into 16 errors and limiting them to a .057 hitting percentage. The Huskies racked up 7.0 total blocks as Kenzie Foley and Phebie Rossi each posted five block assists. Serving shined for the second match in a row with St. Cloud State scoring 10 times from the service line.

Offensively, the Huskies hit at least .333 in each of the three sets and finished hitting .346 with 38 kills and just 10 errors. Foley led all players with three aces and 15 kills on .290 hitting while Rossi added nine on .333. Linsey Rachel terminated six kills on .500 hitting, adding eight digs and a pair of aces. Emma Berran recorded her first collegiate double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.

Turning Point

The Huskies' block was outstanding throughout the match, with Kenzie Foley and Phebie Rossi combining for 10 block assists while shutting down the pins. St. Cloud State recorded 10 aces and had just one reception error, continuing their strong serve-and-pass game to open the season.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"It was a fun match! I thought we were a little bit more balanced offensively, Emma did a good job distributing the ball. We served really tough. I was really impressed with our serve-and-pass game – we've been aced just twice this year. Linsey Rachel, Kenzie Foley and Keely Kurschner have been rockstars in the back row. We made some blocking adjustments – getting lower into the net, taking away seams, not letting them go up and down – I felt we were much more successful after that adjustment."

On Kenzie Foley taking her game to another level… "She's doing such a good job of limiting errors. Her mindset has shifted to taking maybe a few less kills, keeping balls in play and letting us play defense. Today she went 15 and six – you won't complain if your outside hitters get five kills a set and hit .300. She's fun to watch. She's physical at the net, she's high-energy, she's fun to coach and she'll make some adjustments."

On Linsey Rachel's excellent third set… "We got her a couple of better sets, and that helped. Linsey's pretty consistent, I don't think she gets too frazzled out there. We got her some better tempo sets, Emma got her some more one-on-ones and I think that helped her settle in."

Notables

Kenzie Foley led all players with three aces while Linsey Rachel and Keely Kurschner added two
Foley is averaging a whopping 5.22 kills/set through her first three matches
SCSU is hitting .301 and holding opponents to a .128 hitting percentage – outhitting their foes by 173 points
St. Cloud State has 21 aces to their opponents' two this season, boasting a .984 serve receive
The Huskies have had a player double-double in each of their first three matches
Linsey Rachel had four kills on six swings in the third set
With her six kills, Rachel is now 18 away from moving into fourth all-time in program history
St. Cloud State has yet to drop a set in 2022
The Huskies sided out on 73.2% of their chances
SCSU is now 26-3 at Halenbeck Hall since 2019 and has won 29 of their last 32 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.