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MOORHEAD, Minn. - The two-points need to win a set were crucial in the Minnesota State University Dragons three-set victory on Tuesday night against the Northern State Wolves as it came into play in the second and third sets (25-18, 27-25, 29-27).
The Dragons evened out their NSIC record to five as they sit in the conference standings behind only nationally ranked teams with a 15-8 overall record. The Wolves fall to 3-5 in league play with a 8-10 overall record.
MSUM took the early first set lead 7-4 before NSU took a time out that led to battling back to within two points, trailing the Dragons 19-17. With the Dragons up 21-18
Heidi Lensing tallied one of her match high 15 kills to roll the home team to the win. Her kill was followed by three consecutive points earned on a slam by
Mary Sussenguth, a service ace from
Leigh Splittstoesser and the set was ended on a kill by Tvrdik.
The Wolves took their first lead of the match in the second set, 13-12 as they capitalized on Dragons' hitting errors. The score was tied and changed lead seven more times in the set before kills from Tvrdik and Pyfferoen took the second set 27-25 for the Dragons.
The Wolves came back from a six point deficit to tie the third set at 18 on back-to-back kills by NSU's Amber Bloom. A big block by Sussenguth and Pyfferoen put the Dragons back up by two but it didn't last long as the Wolves came back to tie the set at 24. MSUM took a time out and came back with an error to trail by one, 24-25.
The set went back and forth with the Wolves in possession of the lead or tied until the 26-all mark when
Kristen Kleven attacked a Wolves overpass to earn her third kill of the match. The momentum shifted towards the home team when
Katy Ness followed Kleven's kill with a service ace but it did not lead to the Dragons match win. The Wolves tied the game again at 27 but could not carry the energy back to their side of the court as the next two points were earned for the Red and White on kills from Lensing and Tvrdik ended the match.
The Dragons had 49 kills in the three-set match hitting .217. The Wolves had 42 kills but suffered as the team hit a mere .129. Lensing led MSUM with 15 kills while both Sussenguth and Tvrdik ended the match with 10 each. Splittstoesser had 41 assists in the set and 13 digs. Ness dug up 33 attacks from NSU to lead the Dragons and set a new three-set career-high.
MSUM will travel to Crookston on Saturday to face Minnesota, Crookston at 7 p.m.
