Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team battled from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set but fell just short in five sets, losing to the University of Sioux Falls, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 17-15 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday night in Moorhead, Minn.
The Dragons ended the season with a 15-13 mark overall and 8-12 in the NSIC. Sioux Falls improved to 20-11 overall and 10-10 in the league.
Sophomore
Kaitlin VanWinkle had 16 kills for MSUM, while junior
Maggie Gruber had 13 on a .393 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter
Casie Baer had 27 set assists while junior
Sam Sullivan had 24. Sophomore
Amber Krenske had 28 digs while sophomore
Morgan Gradishar had 19 and Baer 14. Gruber had nine block assists.
MSUM hit .122 for the match, compared to .151 for the Cougars.
Trailing 2-1 in the match, MSUM started its rally in the fourth set. The Dragons were down 15-14 but closed on a 10-4 run to take a 25-18 win. Gruber's blocking was huge during that stretch as she had four block assists. Gradishar added two kills while sophomore
Abby Wolpern had two block assists.
The decisive fifth set was close the whole way with 11 ties. MSUM held an 11-9 lead after Gruber and redshirt freshman
Kristy Bruni teamed up for a block. The Dragons served for the match up 14-13 but USF rallied to take a 16-15 lead. A Cougar block ended the match with a 17-15 Cougar win.
The Dragons faced a 23-20 deficit in the first set but scored three in a row -- which included a kill from VanWinkle and a block from Gradishar -- to tie the set at 23-23. The Cougars scored the final two points, however, to secure a 25-23 win.
The Dragons faced a 20-16 deficit in the second set but rallied with a 9-3 run late to secure a 25-23 win to even the match at a set apiece. Bruni, Wolpern and VanWinkle each put down two kills during that key stretch while freshman
Kara Ziemer added an ace.
MSUM led 8-7 in the third set but the Cougars came back strong and built a 21-13 lead. The Dragons fought back to within 24-22 but got no closer and fell 25-22, sending the match to the fourth set with MSUM facing a 2-1 deficit.
Gradishar added nine kills for MSUM while Bruni had eight and Wolpern seven. Wolpern also added six block assists.
The loss ended the season for MSUM, which missed qualifying for the NSIC tournament by one spot in the standings.
