College Volleyball: Dragons slay the Huskies in four sets

The St. Cloud State volleyball team went on the road for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) series and opened the weekend with a four set loss, 21-25, 10-25, 25-21, 22-25 at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

The Huskies fall to 5-7 overall and 1-3 against NSIC teams. With the loss St. Cloud State is 1-3 in road games this season. MSUM improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC.

The Dragons won the first two sets, but the Huskies fought back in set three and took the fourth set to the wire. St. Cloud State is now 1-3 in four-set matches.

"We need to start strong early in the match and bounce back better when we get behind, " said St. Cloud State head coach Michelle Blaeser. "UMC is an improved team so we will need to bounce back in preparation for tomorrow’s match."

The first set was a back and forth affair. With the score tied at 20-20, MSUM scored four straight points to go ahead 24-20. A Erica Beacom (Elkhorn, Neb.) kill pulled the Huskies to 21-24 but a Husky error ended the set.

MSU Moorhead jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set and went on to win 25-10.

In the third set, St. Cloud State jumped out to 5-0 and 12-3 leads . The Huskies maintained a four-point lead through much of the remainder of the set but the Dragons pulled to within three points 20-23 late in the set. Sophomore Shelby Peterson (Carver) and Beacom tallied the final two points of the set to give the Huskies a 25-21 victory.

The fourth set turned out to be another back and forth affair. Midway through the set, SCSU had a 12-5 lead as several players went on the attack. The momentum turned and MSUM tied the set at 13-13. After that the largest lead for either team was two points until the Dragons went ahead 21-18. The Huskies fought back to 22-23 on a Jordan Hansen (Cold Spring) kill, but MSUM won the next two points, winning the set 25-22 and the match three games to one.

The Dragons finished the match with a .259 attack percentage and the Huskies finished at .150. St. Cloud State had the advantage on the front line with seven blocks led by sophomore Ellie Dietzen (Black Creek, Wis.) with four block assists. Hansen an Beacom each had 12 kills a piece.

MSUM’s Maggie Gruber led all players with 19 kills.

The Huskies return to NSIC action Saturday afternoon in a 3:00 p.m. match at the University of Minnesota, Crookston.

Courtesy: Anne Abicht/St. Cloud State University