MANKATO, Minn. - In a league of top-nationally ranked teams, the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons proved on Saturday that they are a program to be bargained with as they upset the No. 13 Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks in a five-set match on the road. The Dragons won the match 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 25-10, 16-25, 16-14).
The Dragons move to 7-8 overall and are now 3-4 in the NSIC. The Mavericks are also 3-4 in the league and have an 11-4 record on the season.
The Dragons took the early lead in set one but succumbed the lead at the 20-point mark when two kils from each Amanda Thompson and Chelsea Fogarty put the Dragons up by four. Kimber Kuhl closed out the set with a kill from Brittany Stamer.
In set two, the lead went back and forth until the Dragons took the lead at 11-10 and kept it throughout the set. Six Dragons had kills in the second set, with
Ashley Feldman,
Ashley Pyfferoen and
Laura Tvrdik each had four.
The team's traded victories in the third and fourth set to push the match to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the lead was exchanged fourteen times before a victor was decided. With the score tied at 13 the Dragons committed a hitting error to trail by one. After a timeout,
Heidi Lensing and Feldman put together back-to-back kills to take the 15-14 lead. The Mavericks called a timeout to attempt to change the momentum but a carefully place serve by
Kayla Handevidt had no reception to give MSUM the win on an ace.
The Dragons moved their game to a 5-1 rotation for the match, with
Leigh Splittstoesser tallying 50 assists. MSU Moorhead had 62 kills in the match with Feldman leading the team as she tallied 15 kills. She hit .667 in the match, leading the team to a .251 hitting percentage. Lensing had 14 kills in the match. Pyfferoen and Handevidt each had nine kills in the match.
Katy Ness led the defensive efforts with 19 digs in the match. Senior
Laura Tvrdik had seven block assists and eight kills.
The Dragons return home after being on the road for the past four games, on Friday, Oct. 8 as the team hosts Mary (N.D.) at 7 p.m.
