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No. 6 St. Cloud State Volleyball Earns Gutsy Five Set Win at Sioux Falls
10/7/2023 7:30:00 PM | Volleyball
Zimmerman records career best 17 kills as SCSU posts season-high 15.0 blocks
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 6 St. Cloud State Volleyball (14-4, 7-2 NSIC) held off an upset-minded Sioux Falls (6-10, 2-6 NSIC) on the road Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls, taking a five set thriller 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 17-25 and 15-13. The Huskies outhit Sioux Falls .208 to .181 and posted a season best 15.0 blocks, leaning on a playmaking defense to grind out the five set road win.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman terminated a career-high 17 kills on .395 hitting to go with five blocks while senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley put away 16 kills on .297 hitting alongside 13 digs and four blocks. Foley's double-double marked her ninth of the season while her three solo blocks establish a new career best for the All-American. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz added 12 kills to mark a third Husky in double figures.
Junior libero Keely Kurschner led all players with 19 digs while sophomore setter Emma Berran recorded 47 assists, four blocks and two digs as part of a strong night. The Huskies defense forced Sioux Falls into 25 attacking errors and aced them six times with three courtesy of Foley.
The opening set saw Foley and Zimmerman both catch fire early, combining for 12 kills on 16 swings with zero errors between the two. Their dominance helped the Huskies hit .367 in the set on their way to a 25-18 win. Foley added a 4-0-5 line in the second set while Bruskiewicz put down five kills on .429 hitting as SCSU took a 2-0 match advantage at 25-19.
St. Cloud State hit .167 in the third set and .094 in the fourth as Sioux Falls stormed back to send the match to a fifth set. The Huskies leaned on their defense to force USF into 10 errors in the fifth set, taking the match 15-13.
QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann
"That was another hard fought battle. Sioux Falls really flipped the switch at the end of the third set – they started to serve us super aggressively and had a couple of nice service runs to get us on our heels. I liked the way we battled back to get within a point at 24-23 with Allena's run but we couldn't close it out. The fourth set was not good – in the fifth set we were able to take control early, then a couple of unforced errors late made it close. Kenzie had a really nice kill to end it – that's a good road win in this league that you need to have and I thought we responded well after a tough match last night."
"When we scouted Sioux Falls we thought they would be super aggressive swinging at balls, and I thought those swings got a little tight sometimes – when you have teams getting tight to the ball it creates a good recipe for potential stuff blocks. Our blockers did a great job of getting their hands over. We were extremely intentional in practice this week on pressing over and being super aggressive blocking. We did a nice job there."
NOTABLES
UP NEXT
The Huskies return home for a Thursday match with Minnesota Duluth at Halenbeck Hall on October 12. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with coverage available on the NSIC Network.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman terminated a career-high 17 kills on .395 hitting to go with five blocks while senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley put away 16 kills on .297 hitting alongside 13 digs and four blocks. Foley's double-double marked her ninth of the season while her three solo blocks establish a new career best for the All-American. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz added 12 kills to mark a third Husky in double figures.
Junior libero Keely Kurschner led all players with 19 digs while sophomore setter Emma Berran recorded 47 assists, four blocks and two digs as part of a strong night. The Huskies defense forced Sioux Falls into 25 attacking errors and aced them six times with three courtesy of Foley.
The opening set saw Foley and Zimmerman both catch fire early, combining for 12 kills on 16 swings with zero errors between the two. Their dominance helped the Huskies hit .367 in the set on their way to a 25-18 win. Foley added a 4-0-5 line in the second set while Bruskiewicz put down five kills on .429 hitting as SCSU took a 2-0 match advantage at 25-19.
St. Cloud State hit .167 in the third set and .094 in the fourth as Sioux Falls stormed back to send the match to a fifth set. The Huskies leaned on their defense to force USF into 10 errors in the fifth set, taking the match 15-13.
QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann
"That was another hard fought battle. Sioux Falls really flipped the switch at the end of the third set – they started to serve us super aggressively and had a couple of nice service runs to get us on our heels. I liked the way we battled back to get within a point at 24-23 with Allena's run but we couldn't close it out. The fourth set was not good – in the fifth set we were able to take control early, then a couple of unforced errors late made it close. Kenzie had a really nice kill to end it – that's a good road win in this league that you need to have and I thought we responded well after a tough match last night."
"When we scouted Sioux Falls we thought they would be super aggressive swinging at balls, and I thought those swings got a little tight sometimes – when you have teams getting tight to the ball it creates a good recipe for potential stuff blocks. Our blockers did a great job of getting their hands over. We were extremely intentional in practice this week on pressing over and being super aggressive blocking. We did a nice job there."
NOTABLES
- Sam Zimmerman put away a career-high 17 kills on .395 hitting while adding five blocks
- Kenzie Foley double-doubled for the ninth time this season with 16 kills and 13 digs, hitting .297 alongside four blocks and three aces
- Hannah Bruskiewicz terminated 12 kills with three blocks, two digs and an ace
- Keely Kurschner led all players with 19 digs
- Emma Berran recorded 47 assists, four blocks and a kill
- The Huskies outkilled Sioux Falls 58 to 54 and outhit them .208 to .181
- SCSU posted a season-high 15.0 blocks while adding 53 digs
UP NEXT
The Huskies return home for a Thursday match with Minnesota Duluth at Halenbeck Hall on October 12. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with coverage available on the NSIC Network.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
SCSU
USF
Kills
63
55
Errors
31
26
Attempts
153
139
Hitting %
.209
.209
Points
88.0
71.0
Assists
58
53
Aces
7
5
Blocks
18
11
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
20
Aces
3
Blocks
4
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
9
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
Li/DS
/ VolleyballMB
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