Foley Ties Program Record with 32 Kills, No. 8 Huskies Volleyball Falls in Four to No. 12 Bulldogs

Thursday, October 12

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

14-5,7-3NSIC

Minnesota Duluth

13-5,6-4NSIC

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Jason Soria

Foley Ties Program Record with 32 Kills, No. 8 Huskies Volleyball Falls in Four to No. 12 Bulldogs

10/12/2023 10:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Kenzie Foley becomes second player in program history to record 32 kills in a single match

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley sent down a career high 32 kills to tie No. 8 St. Cloud State Volleyball's (14-5, 7-3 NSIC) single match record as the Huskies fell in four sets to No. 12 Minnesota Duluth (13-5, 6-4 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall on Thursday evening, dropping the match 25-22, 21-25, 22-25 and 23-25. Foley became the second player in program history to record 30 or more kills in a match multiple times, matching Cami Selbitschka's mark of 32 kills previously reached twice in the 1996 season.

Foley recorded her 32 kills on 58 swings with just three errors, hitting .500 with a whopping .552 kill percentage. The senior added 12 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season – as well as the 50^th of her career – while kicking in three blocks and an ace for a career-high 34.5 points.

Sophomore setter Emma Berran added to the historic night, recording her 2000^th career assist while posting 46 on the night to go with four digs, two blocks, two aces and a kill. Junior libero Keely Kurschner led the match with 22 digs while adding three assists and an ace. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman provided 11 kills and four blocks on .259 hitting alongside nine kills and six digs from freshman outside hitter Shelby Kimm.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"Another competitive match with a pair of ranked teams. I think it's a classic example of experience really showing for Duluth with their five returning all-conference players – they're experienced and have played in a lot of big matches like tonight's. Kenzie obviously had a phenomenal match for us tonight – we look to her to score a ton, she was extremely efficient offensively – Sam did some really nice things for us. We just needed to find some more offense in some more places and needed to defend a little bit better. I loved the way we served, we put pressure on them in serve receive and blocked really well. We need to control the middle of sets better – that's where we gave up some big runs tonight."

"The biggest thing for Kenzie tonight was the way she got her feet to the ball and took some aggressive swings contacting the ball high. I don't think she tried to do too much – sometimes athletes try to do a little too much, but she just got her feet to the ball and took what the block gave her. She had a couple of great swings out of the back row, she played very well in the front row. She contacts the ball so high, moves it around, can hit some different angles and tool off the block – she puts herself in a really good situation. She carried the load for us tonight."

"The only way to get experience is to play in big matches. When you look out there and you see sophomores and freshmen – we're so young at every position, and we don't have that experience to play in big matches yet. I thought tonight Duluth did a really good job of weathering the storm while the moment sometimes got a little bit too big for us. We'll continue to gain experience as the season continues and be ready for another opportunity against them come postseason."

NOTABLES

Kenzie Foley tied St. Cloud State's single-match record with 32 kills on .500 hitting, adding 12 digs, three blocks and an ace
Foley joins Cami Selbitschka as the lone Huskies to record 30-plus kills in a match multiple times in her career
No other player in program history has reached the 30 kill mark in a single match
Foley becomes the first player to reach 32 kills in a match since Selbitschka did so twice during the 1996 season
Foley's double-double is her 11^th of the season and 50^th of her career
Emma Berran became the ninth Husky to reach 2000 career assists with her third of the night
Berran finished with 46 assists, four digs, two blocks, two aces and a kill
Keely Kurschner matched her season-high of 22 digs alongside three assists and an ace
Sam Zimmerman put away 11 kills on .259 hitting while adding four blocks
Shelby Kimm posted nine kills and six digs
Allena Shimon provided seven digs, four assists and two aces
The Huskies were outhit .215 to .277 but outkilled UMD 59 to 57
SCSU earned 75.0 points compared to Duluth's 73.0

UP NEXT
The Huskies travel to Bemidji State on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. CT match at BSU Gymnasium. The tilt will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with live stats provided by Bemidji State – links to both coverage options are available on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.