No. 6 SCSU Volleyball Falls to No. 1 Wayne State

Friday, September 29

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

11-3,4-1NSIC

Wayne State

13-1,4-0NSIC

Wayne St. (NE)

St. Cloud St.

The Huskies huddle during St. Cloud State's loss to No. 1 Wayne State on Sept. 29, 2023 at Halenbeck Hall

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

9/29/2023 10:45:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

St. Cloud State drops three-setter to Wildcats at Halenbeck Hall

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 6 St. Cloud State Volleyball (11-3, 4-1 NSIC) dropped their first conference match of the season in straight sets to No. 1 Wayne State (13-1, 4-0 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall on Friday evening, falling 23-25, 23-25 and 21-25. Errors plagued the Huskies as SCSU committed a combined 31 to the Wildcats' 24 in a match that saw both teams earn 55.0 points. Set scores drew even 28 times throughout the evening with 11 lead changes.

Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley double-doubled for the seventh time this season, leading the Huskies with 16 kills on .200 hitting while adding 13 digs, two assists, a block and an ace. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman enjoyed a terrific night with 12 kills on .385 hitting to go with two blocks while junior libero Keely Kurschner led all players with 17 digs alongside three assists and two aces.

The Huskies scored eight times from the service line with two each from Kurschner, freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz and freshman defensive specialist Annika Forbes. Junior opposite Natalie Tesch produced six kills on .333 hitting as sophomore setter Emma Berran finished with 33 assists, six digs, one kill and an ace.

Both offenses opened the match in full gear as St. Cloud State hit .406 to the Wildcats' .500 in the first set. Zimmerman terminated six kills on nine swings, Foley added four while Bruskiewicz and Tesch each scored three in a 25-23 opening-set loss that saw the score draw even 10 times with five lead changes.

The script flipped completely with both defenses combining for 45 digs – 24 by the Huskies – as Wayne State took the second set 25-23. Kurschner and Foley each posted eight digs as the latter added five kills. SCSU struggled to score off the Wildcat block, hitting into four stuff blocks with eight attacking errors.

St. Cloud State stumbled out of the gates in the third set, falling behind 16-8 before dropping the frame and the match 25-21. Foley took 19 of the Huskies' 40 swings in the frame and put away seven kills as she and Kurschner each posted four digs in the set.

QUOTABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann

"Well, there's certainly a reason why Wayne State is the No. 1-ranked team in the country. They move the ball around, they've got probably the best middle tandem in the conference – if not the country. Their ball control was solid for most of the night and Walker did a good job running their offense. Tip of the cap to them. They've gotten us in the regular season a couple of times, we've gotten them in the playoffs, so we're looking forward to another shot at them later this season."

"The first set was pretty frustrating – we were fantastic offensively. When you hit .406, you're not going to lose many sets. We made a couple too many errors at the end of that set, and a tie game at 20-20 turns into 25-23. I loved the way we battled defensively in the last two sets, but we have to be cleaner. They're so good, they're terminal – they keep putting pressure on you. A good match, a good battle for our team – we have to learn from it and move on."

NOTABLES

Kenzie Foley double-doubled for the seventh time this season, posting 16 kills and 13 digs with two assists, a block and one ace
Foley moved past Swen Minnema (1992-95) for eighth all-time in career kills and now is just 13 kills from reaching Sheri Mandell (1986-89) for seventh in program history
Keely Kurschner recorded 17 digs to go with three assists and two aces
Sam Zimmerman hit .385 with 12 kills and two blocks
Natalie Tesch hit .333 and put away six kills to go with two blocks
Annika Forbes scored twice from the service line and tied her career best of seven digs
The Huskies were outkilled 46 to 43 and outhit .304 to .203
SCSU out dug Wayne State 52 to 46 and out aced their opponents eight to three

UP NEXT
The Huskies host Augustana on Saturday afternoon at Halenbeck Hall with a 2:00 p.m. CT first serve.

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