Mankato, Minn.- The Minnesota State University Moorhead Volleyball team played in their second Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match on Friday night. The Dragons traveled to Mankato to face Minnesota State, their second NSIC road contest of the week. The Mavericks of MSU fought back to win the last three sets and win the match 3-2 over the Dragons, 18-25, 13-25, 25-21, 25-18, and 15-11.

The Dragons are now 5-5 on the season.

Minnesota State's Chandra Honebrink and Ellie Van De Steeg led the match in kills and assists with 17 and 57, respectively. Minnesota State Moorhead junior Kaitlin VanWinkle led the Dragons with 14 kills while junior Casie Baer had 26 assists.

The Mavericks opened up a quick start in the match, jumping out to a 4-1 lead over the Dragons. MSUM showed resiliency however, staying close to MSU throughout the middle of the set. The score was tied at 18 when the Dragons rallied off seven straight points thanks to kills from senior Maggie Gruber and VanWinkle, taking the first set 25-18. VanWinkle had six kills in the set for the Dragons.

MSUM's defense played a vital role in the second set. The Dragons utilized numerous diving digs to save key rallies and scored three straight points to take a 7-5 lead early in the set. The Dragons used this hustle attitude to gain momentum in the set. The Dragons had stretches of three, four, and five straight points in the set and won the set 25-13. Sophomore Kelsey Hartkopf put away the final point in the set with a kill on a set from senior Sam Sullivan, sending the Dragons into the break with a 2-0 advantage.

The Mavericks took the early advantage in the third set, opening up a 6-3 lead over the Dragons. Two stretches of three straight points by the Mavericks and their lead grew to 17-10. Honebrink experienced her own stretch of three straight kills in the run for the Mavericks. MSUM fought back and cut the lead to four points three times in the set, but MSU finished off the set on a kill from Honebrink, 25-21.

MSU jumped out to an early lead yet again in the fourth set, using two runs of three straight points to gain an 8-3 lead before a timeout from MSUM. The Dragons fought back right away with three consecutive points of their own to shrink the lead to 8-6. But MSU caught fire again, increasing their lead to 18-11. The Dragons fought to close the lead, but could not get close enough and MSU took the set 25-21 to tie the match score at 2-2.

In the fifth set, both teams showed great enthusiasm after scoring points, showing emotion in a hard fought match. Five points in a row from MSU put the Mavericks up 9-5. From then on the Mavericks controlled the set, taking the final point on a kill from Van De Steeg to take the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

MSUM will next take on No. 2-ranked Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m.