No. 2 St. Cloud State Volleyball Sweeps (RV) Minnesota State, Sets Program Record for Most Consecutive Wins

Friday, November 8

Taylor Center • Mankato, Minn.

6 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

22-2,16-0NSIC

Minnesota State

16-7,8-7NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Minnesota St.

Photo by: Justyce Porter

No. 2 St. Cloud State Volleyball Sweeps (RV) Minnesota State, Sets Program Record for Most Consecutive Wins

11/8/2024 10:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Huskies tally 18th straight win, tie program record for sweeps in a row with eight

MANKATO, Minn. – No. 2 St. Cloud State Volleyball (22-2, 16-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) defeated Minnesota State in straight sets (25-16, 25-15, 25-15) on Friday evening at the Taylor Center in Mankato, limiting the Mavericks to .087 hitting in the match. The Huskies set a new program record for consecutive wins (18) and tied the all-time record for sweeps in a row (eight). The Huskies clinched a home first round NSIC Tournament playoff match.

The Huskies led MSU (16-7, 8-7 NSIC) in points (57-36), kills (48-28), hitting percentage (.309 – 0.87), aces (2-1), , assists (46-24) and digs (59-40). Each team recorded seven blocks.

SCSU recorded its 18^th consecutive win, 14^th sweep in its last 16 matches (eighth straight) and extended its best start to conference play (16-0) in program history. Nine of the 18 wins during the streak have come against nationally ranked opponents.

TOP HUSKIES

Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) – 18-kill, 13 dig double-double on .441 hitting, three block assists and two solo blocks
Senior libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn.) – match-high 17 digs and match-high 2 service aces
Sophomore outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) – 14 digs and five kills
Junior setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) – game-high 43 assists
Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.) – 11 kills on .350 hitting and three block assists
Redshirt junior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) – 10 kills on .375 hitting
Junior defensive specialist Emily Kern (Belgrade, Minn.) – 12 digs

QUOTABLE – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann
"It was a very balanced effort for us offensively, as well as defensively tonight. To have four players with 10 or more digs at this level is fantastic. We had four attackers hit over .300 and three of them had at least 10 kills. I really liked the defensive pressure we put on Mankato – it really looked like their hitters were frustrated at times. I was disappointed that we didn't serve very tough overall, and it felt like they were in system often, but our defense bailed out our servers. [Emily] Kern was very solid defensively, [Kenzie] Foley, [Hannah] Bruskiewiecz and [Ella] Thompson were very terminal and Shelby [Kimm] just had a solid overall game. Keely [Kurschner] again anchored a stout defense that has just continued to improve throughout the season."

NOTABLES

The Huskies improved to 62-53 all-time against Minnesota State and extended its win streak against MSU to five matches. SCSU is now 15-17 all-time against the Mavericks at the Taylor Center.
SCSU has won 18 straight matches including nine wins over nationally ranked teams – No. 4 Southwest Minnesota State (sweep), No. 6 Wayne State, No. 9 Concordia-St. Paul (sweep), No. 15 Minnesota Duluth (sweep), No. 20 Michigan Tech, No. 22 Northern State (sweep), No. 24 Minnesota Duluth (sweep), (RV) Minnesota State (sweep) and (RV) Minnesota State.
It is the first time SCSU has ever won 18 matches in a row. The previous longest streak of 17, was set in 2021.
All 14 of SCSU's sweeps this season have come during the last 16 matches and they have tied the program record for most consecutive sweeps (eight).
St. Cloud State extended its best conference start in program history (16-0) and has clinched a first-round home match in the 2024 NSIC Volleyball Tournament.
Foley led the match in kills and solo blocks. She also was second in the match in digs and block assists. She tied her career high in solo blocks with two. Foley posted her 73^rd career double-double tying former teammate Linsey Rachel (2018-22) for the most career double-doubles in program history. She has 13 double-doubles this season. She is one match away from putting herself on the career matches played top 10 list and two sets away from moving into the top 5 for career sets played.
Kurschner led the match in digs by three. She has posted 15+ digs in 11 matches this season.
Kimm has posted double-digit digs in 10 matches this season.
Berran led the match in assists. She has tallied 43+ assists in seven matches this season.
Bruskiewicz had the second most kills in the match. She has sent down 11+ kills in eight matches this season.
Thompson was third in the match in kills. She has posted 10+ kills in 13 matches this season.
Kern tied for the fourth most digs in the match. She has posted 12+ digs in three matches this season.

UP NEXT
The Huskies travel to St. Paul for their final regular season road match of the season on Saturday against No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul (19-4, 14-1 NSIC). First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. from the Gangelhoff Center. Links to each coverage option will be 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.