Foley Breaks Single-Game Kills Record as No. 5 Huskies Takedown No.6 Wayne State in a 5 Set Thriller

Saturday, October 12

Rice Auditorium • Wayne, Neb.

1 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

14-2,8-0NSIC

Wayne State

14-3,8-1NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Wayne St. (NE)

Foley Breaks Single-Game Kills Record as No. 5 Huskies Takedown No.6 Wayne State in a 5 Set Thriller

10/12/2024 5:22:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

St. Cloud State wins 10th consecutive match

Wayne, Neb.- No. 5 St. Cloud State Volleyball (14-2, 8-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) won their 10th consecutive match as they defeated No. 6 Wayne State (14-3, 8-1 NSIC) in a five thriller Saturday afternoon. The first set kicked off with the two top ranked teams battling back and forth, but an 8-3 run helped the Huskies take a 17-12 lead. The Wildcats counteracted with a run on their own as they tied the match up at 23 a piece with an 11-6 burst. The teams continued to go back-and-forth as Wayne State took a 25-24 lead before fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) delivered a strike to tie the match at 25. With the Huskies now serving, junior setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) gave St. Cloud State a one-point lead with an ace. Foley then put away the Wildcats in the first set with a kill as the Huskies took set one 27-25.

The thrilling battle continued between the teams as set two was again tightly contested. The Wildcats held a 21-20 lead and grew that lead to 23-20 after two attacking errors by the Huskies. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.) brought the Huskies within two points with a key kill, but Wayne State rallied with their own kill and an ace to take the second set 25-21.

Going into the third set with the match tied 1-1, the battle continued between the two teams. A kill by Foley set the score at 14-16 but Wayne State ripped off a 7-1 run to take a commanding 23-15 lead. The Wildcats closed out the third set with an ace as they took set three by a score of 25-17.

With their backs against the wall and needing to win the fourth set to force the deciding fifth set, the Huskies jumped out to an 11-6 lead to start the set. St. Cloud State then pulled off an impeccable 12-0 run to take a 23-6 lead. During the run, sophomore outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) rallied the Huskies with five service aces as St. Cloud State forced a deciding fifth set with a dominant 25-8 victory in the fourth set.

The fifth set kept the theme of the entire match as it was again tightly contested and back-and-forth. The two teams would be tied at 12-12 before two attacking errors by the Wildcats gave SCSU a 14-12 lead. St. Cloud State was unable to finish off the Wildcats as they committed two attacking errors of their own and then WSU took a 15-14 lead off an ace. With their backs against the wall, St. Cloud State went to Foley who smashed a ball for a point, tying the match at 15. The Wildcats went on to take a 16-15 lead after an attacking error by the Huskies, but they tied the match right back up with a kill by Bruskiewicz. Wayne State committed their own attacking error as St. Cloud State took a 17-16 lead and then redshirt junior Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) closed out the game with a kill as the Huskies won their 10th consecutive match an remain perfect in NSIC play.

Top Huskies

Kenzie Foley led the match with a record setting 34 kills to go along with 14 digs, three block assists, and two aces. The 34 kills were the most in a single game in program history as she broke her own record of 32 kills last year against Minnesota Duluth. Foley also hit .387 in the match.
Shelby Kimm set a new career-highs with seven aces and 21 digs in the match. Kimm also tallied six kills and recorded two block assists. The seven aces for Kimm were also tied for the third most in a single game in program history.
Emma Berran led the match in assists with 54, registered nine digs, four kills, a new season-high of three aces, and a solo block.
Ella Thompson recorded eight kills in the match along with a team-high four total blocks and three digs.

Quotable from St. Cloud State Head Coach Chad Braegelmann
"Very fun match against the quality Wayne State team. They made us extremely uncomfortable with their blocking ability and their defense. They put so much pressure on you as a team because they don't make errors, they serve in, they attack in, and they're very terminal on offense, especially their two middles. I was very impressed with how our team responded after being down two to one, and that 4th set we got on a little roll, and I thought we had some momentum for the fifth, but too many errors in the fifth made for a very close set. Some great defense at the end for us bailed us out and Thompson got a kill that sealed it. Kenzie's 34 kills helped throughout the match and Shelby had a fantastic serving run in the 4th."

Notables

St. Cloud State moves to 15-22 all-time against Wayne State.
The Huskies led the match in points (91.5-74), kills (71-52), aces (12-7), assists (66-46), and digs (76-59). The Wildcats led the match in blocks (15-8).
Hannah Bruskiewicz totaled 15 kills on the afternoon along with three blocks assists and two assists.
Senior libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn.) tallied 19 digs with six assists.
Redshirt junior Sam Zimmerman (Moorhead, Minn.) recorded four kills, four digs, and three block assists.
Junior libero Emily Kern (Belgrade, Minn.) registered six digs and one assist in the match.

Up Next
St. Cloud State will be back in action on Thursday, October 17 as they travel to Duluth for a matchup with the Bulldogs. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.