No. 6 Huskies Volleyball Sweeps Minot State in NSIC Opener

Friday, September 15

Minot, N.D.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

8-2,1-0NSIC

Minot State

1-8,0-1NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Minot St.

Junior opposite Natalie Tesch takes a swing during St. Cloud State's win over Minot State on Sep. 15, 2023 at the MSU Dome

9/15/2023 10:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

St. Cloud State grinds out straight set road win over pesky MSU, Kurschner posts 20 digs

MINOT, N.D. – No. 6 St. Cloud State Volleyball (8-2, 1-0 NSIC) opened Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with a gritty straight set win over Minot State (1-8, 0-1 NSIC) on Friday evening at the MSU Dome in Minot, taking the match 25-20, 25-12 and 25-23. The Huskies held Minot State to just 27 kills on .121 hitting with a three-set season high of 56 digs, leaning on their defense to grind out the win. Junior libero Keely Kurschner piled up 20 digs to lead all players while adding six assists.

Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley led the match with 13 kills while freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz and junior opposite Natalie Tesch added 10 and eight kills on .348 and .400 hitting respectively. Bruskiewicz impressed at the service line with a career-high four aces and one block. Foley, Kurschner and freshman outside hitter Abby Wachal went a combined 43-for-43 in serve receive as the Huskies were aced just twice on the night.

Sophomore setter Emma Berran double-doubled for the fourth time this fall, recording 30 assists and 12 digs to go with three aces, two kills and a block.

Five kills from Foley and Tesch helped fuel a 18-kill effort in the opening set as the Huskies earned a 25-20 win, limiting Minot to just nine kills in the frame. Tesch hit .429 from the right pin as Berran posted 12 assists and combined for 13 digs with Kurschner.

Improved ball distribution, strong serving and hard-nosed defense powered SCSU to a 25-12 second set win as six hitters took at least three swings in the frame. Berran scored a pair of aces and found great success setting her middles, finding Bruskiewicz for four kills on .500 hitting and redshirt sophomore Sam Zimmerman for three kills on .400 hitting. Kurschner dug out seven swings in the frame while Foley, freshman Annika Forbes and senior Allena Shimon each added three digs.

Foley and Tesch took over again in a gutsy 25-23 third set, posting six and three kills respectively while both hitting .400 or better. Bruskiewicz aced Minot State three times in the set while Kurschner added another seven digs.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"Definitely a scrappy Minot team. They played great defense tonight and really limited us offensively. I thought we were okay defensively, passed pretty well – we need to serve a lot tougher and attack at a much higher efficiency to be successful. We got a win, which is the important thing to get out of these conference matches, but we certainly have a lot to improve on."

"I thought Kenzie did a good job in that third set. Hannah was much more clean – we try to not attack a whole lot of balls to zone six, they played more of a rotate defense and we struggled to put balls to their left back. She probably had close to 20 digs tonight. I thought we made some good adjustments in the third set there as well. Overall we just have to be better with our first touch, serve receive and serving.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State junior opposite Natalie Tesch

"Things that were working for me personally – just listening to Chad and Marci. They gave us some shots to hit in the scout. My back row calling shots also helped me, letting me know where the defense wasn't and helping me hit around the block."

"Something that we're really trying to work on and focus on in our gym is that sense of urgency and intensity, no matter who we're playing. Respecting every team and trying to play at a high level – we're going to just keep working on that."

NOTABLES

Keely Kurschner piled up 20 digs in three sets, averaging 6.67 digs/set to go with six assists
Emma Berran posted her fourth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 12 digs alongside three aces, two kills and a solo block
Kenzie Foley put away a match high 13 kills with eight digs and one ace
Foley is now just 18 kills away from joining the program's top 10 career kills list and 24 kills from moving into ninth, matching her with Ashley Shields and GiGi DesLauriers respectively
Hannah Bruskiewicz hit .348 while terminating 10 kills, scoring a career best four aces and posting one block
Natalie Tesch hit .400 with eight kills and a block
Allena Shimon matched her career-high with six digs
Annika Forbes tied a career high with four digs
The Huskies have now held their opponents below 10 kills per set in seven of 10 matches this season
St. Cloud State is now 50-11 in league play dating back to 2019
The Huskies are 10-0 all-time in Minot
SCSU has won six straight conference openers dating back to 2017

UP NEXT
The Huskies travel to Bismarck for their weekend finale on Saturday, meeting Mary at 2:00 p.m. CT at the McDowell Activity Center. Saturday's match will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with live stats provided by Mary – links to both coverage options can be found on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.

Single match and season ticket information can be found on 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.