Offense finds footing, No. 4 Huskies sweep (RV) Augustana

Saturday, September 24

St. Cloud, Minn.

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

13-1,5-1NSIC

Augustana

10-4,2-4NSIC

Augustana (SD)

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

9/24/2022 5:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Stellar second set provides momentum as St. Cloud State handles Vikings in three

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 4 St. Cloud State Volleyball used a dominant second set to sweep (RV) Augustana on Saturday afternoon at Halenbeck Hall.

Kenzie Foley led all scorers with 13 kills on .281 hitting, adding 10 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season. Phebie Rossi hit .381 with 10 kills and five blocks while Linsey Rachel double-doubled with 12 kills and 10 digs.

A dominant block anchored a stingy Huskies defense that held Augustana to hit just .114, producing 11 blocks. Sam Zimmerman led the way with a career-best six blocks, Rossi had five and Foley provided four while Makena Hollman posted three. Keely Kurschner dug out 18 swings to lead all defensive players.

Turning Point
A mid-match switch to a 5-2 provided the SCSU offense with a kickstart, putting away 18 kills in the second set on .371 hitting for a 25-15 win. The Huskies remained efficient in the third with just four errors, cleaning things up in three. Emma Berran (24) and Allena Shimon (15) combined for 39 assists while conducting the two-setter, five-hitter attack.

Quotables – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"A couple things stood out today. Our blocking was fantastic. We scouted Augie and we thought they would try to tool on our hands and be really intentional – our blockers did a really great job of lining blocks up, pressing into the court. They did tool us a couple of times, but when you play a good team they're going to do that. Overall, blocking was great. Credit to Allena Shimon. She came in cold in the middle of the second set and was fantastic. She forced the tempo a little bit, put our hitters in some really good spots and was a nice calming influence on the court. A tip of the cap to Allena, she did a really nice job today."

On making the move to a 5-2 in the second… "You look at a lot of things. Some of it is tempo, set location. We've been practicing now for a month and a half, and sometimes it's really good for younger players like Emma to just sit a couple serves and see what's going on when somebody else is on the floor. There's a lot of information we're asking them to process, a lot of things that go into it. I thought Emma did a really nice job overall as well, sometimes you need to provide that break for them to see what's happening, develop a gameplan and get ready to go."

On developing throughout the weekend… "It was a really good weekend for us. We played probably the two toughest teams we've played so far, and they put us in some really uncomfortable spots. From a practice and planning standpoint, I think we're going to be much more prepared going forward. These are the kind of things we need to expect."

Notables

Kenzie Foley led all players with 13 kills on .281 hitting while adding 10 digs, four blocks and two aces
Foley double-doubled for the 10^th time this season and has double-doubles in six of her last seven matches
Linsey Rachel put down 12 kills on .333 hitting along with 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season
Phebie Rossi sent home 10 kills on .381 hitting to go with five blocks
Keely Kurschner led all players with 18 digs
Emma Berran had 24 assists while Allena Shimon added 15
Makena Hollman provided six kills along with three blocks
Sam Zimmerman had a career-high six blocks to go with four kills
With 11 blocks on the afternoon, St. Cloud State set a new season-high
The Huskies have held their opponents to hit below .200 in 13 of 14 matches this season
SCSU is now 30-4 at Halenbeck Hall since 2019 and has won 33 of their last 38 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.