Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Despite a 20-kill effort from sophomore Annie Palmquist, the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team fell short against No. 2-ranked Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, dropping a 25-17, 25-21, 29-31, 25-20 decision to the Mustangs in front of 698 fans at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. MSUM fell to 10-6 overall and 2-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while SMSU improved to 14-1 overall and 6-1 in the league.

Palmquist, who now leads MSUM with 178 kills through 16 matches, hit .357 for the match. She also had three digs, one solo block and two block assists. Senior Meredith Egeland had 12 kills for MSUM, while freshman Kaitlin VanWinkle had eight kills, two solo blocks and five block assists.  Senior Heidi Lensing added seven kills and three block assists, while senior Anna Olson dished out 38 set assists.

Senior Katy Ness continued her outstanding season with a match-high 39 digs.

SMSU, which had five players with double-digit kills, was led by Devin Diedrich with 20 kills.

MSUM got off to a good start in the first set, jumping out to a 5-2 advantage. Palmquist, VanWinkle and sophomore Sam Sullivan had kills during that run.

The set was tied at 9-9 before SMSU went on a 7-0 run to take a 16-9 lead. The Dragons were within 16-11 but got no closer as the Mustangs took a 25-17 win.

The second set followed a similar path, with the Dragons taking a 7-5 lead after a kill by sophomore Maggie Gruber. The set was tied at 10-10 before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run to build a 15-10 lead. The Dragons battled their way back, however, with three straight points -- keyed by Lensing and Egeland kills -- to cut the lead to 20-19. However, SMSU answered with four straight points to stretch the lead to 24-19, on its way to a 25-21 win.

The third-set was a marathon with 20 ties and seven lead changes. The Dragons took a 19-17 lead after a Palmquist kill, but the Mustangs scored three straight to take a 20-19 lead. MSUM answered with four straight points of its own -- which included a kill from Palmquist and a block from VanWinkle and Olson -- to take a 23-20 lead. SMSU came back to take a 25-24 lead, and from there, the set see-sawed back and forth. MSUM faced a 29-28 deficit but an Egeland kill tied the set at 29-29. The Dragons then won the set 31-29 as SMSU committed back-to-back hitting errors.

MSUM faced a 10-5 deficit in the third set but fought back to within 15-14 after an Egeland kill. Moments later, the Dragons tied the set at 17-17 with Egeland and Lensing teamed up for a block. The set was tied at 18-18, but the Mustangs scored four straight points to take a 22-18 lead, on their way to a 25-20 win.

Sullivan had five kills, 14 set assists and five digs for MSUM. Freshman Amber Krenske had 11 digs.

MSUM is back on the road for the next two weekends, starting Oct. 6 at Bemidji State.