KENOSHA, Wis. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team split its final two matches on the final day in Kenosha, Wis. at the UW-Parkside Invitational. The Dragons won the first match in straight sets, 25-13, 25-13, and 25-13 against Lake Superior State University (1-6), before falling in straight sets to Northern Michigan (5-4), 25-22, 25-18, 25-20.
MSUM is now 5-3 in non-conference matches this season. The Dragons will open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Thursday.
MSUM's offense had a fantastic morning hitting .430 as a team. Junior middle blocker Taylor Liesemeyer had a productive match once again, hitting an astounding .706 with 12 kills and one block. Redshirt-freshman Sarah Hagler had 11 kills hitting .308, with two digs and four blocks.
Senior captain hitter Carly Masloski added eight kills, freshman middle blocker Mikayla Larson had seven kills while freshman hitter Courtney Selbitschka had six kills. Redshirt-freshman setter Makayla Wenzel racked up 41 assists on the match. Sophomore libero Monica Vega had eight digs.
The Dragons got off to a hot start in the match and never looked back. MSUM jumped out to an early 3-1 lead and blew the game open from there. The Dragons increased their lead to seven leading 15-8 before the Lakers called a timeout. MSUM ended the set on a 10-5 run to win 25-13.
It was a lot of the same in the second set. Trailing 2-1, the Dragons fired off six straight points to regain the lead 7-2. The Lakers fought back and knotted the set at 9-9, but that wasn't enough to slow the efficient MSUM offense. The Dragons scored 16 of the next 20 points winning the second set 25-13.
In the third set, MSUM jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, and kept the pressure on the rest of the game. Winning the third and final set of the match with the same score as the other two sets, 25-13.
The second match proved to be a different story with the Dragons falling in straight sets to the Wildcats of NMU.
Hagler had a team-high nine kills with a .391 hitting percentage. She had a team-high four blocks and added one dig. Redshirt-freshman hitter Ellie Rutten hit .294 with seven kills, two digs and one block. Selbitschka and Liesemeyer added five and four kills respectively.
Junior defensive specialist Sydney Foss and libero Vega each recorded 13 digs. Wenzel finished the match with 28 assists and seven digs.
In the first set, both teams traded back and forth. Tied at 19-19, NMU went on a 5-2 run to put the game out of reach for MSUM. The Dragons couldn't find any sort of rhythm in the second set and fell 25-18. In the third and final set, MSUM fought hard, but fell short in the end 25-20.
The Dragons return to action on Thursday, Sept. 15 at home against Minot State. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
