MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team fell to St. Cloud State University on Friday night, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 26-24).
The Dragons are now 9-15 overall and 5-12 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Huskies improved to 13-10 and 9-8 in the NSIC.
Senior Monica Vega, left with Coach Tammy Blake
Prior to the match MSUM honored its lone senior, Monica Vega. She is fourth all-time in digs at MSUM.
Freshman outside hitter Amanda Carlson led the team with 11 kills and earned a double-double with 14 digs. Sophomore setter Lauren Kiewiet had 14 assists and 10 digs, and redshirt freshman Becca Koehn contributed 13 assists. Senior libero Monica Vega led the team defensively with 15 digs. Junior middle blocker Kaylyn Jenkins had five total blocks on the night (four assists, one solo).
In set one, the Dragons claimed an early 4-3 lead off a kill from sophomore middle blocker Kylie Kanwischer. The Huskies took back the momentum and went up 12-5. MSUM chipped away at the SCSU lead a Carlson kill brought her team within three at 16-13. SCSU would not let the Dragons within striking distance and claimed a 25-19 first set victory.
The second set began much like the first as the Dragons pulled within one at 6-5 off a kill from freshman Lexi Gilbertson. A five-point run from SCSU gave them a 16-8 lead before a Carlson kill could halt the momentum. The Dragons could not dig themselves out of the hole and dropped the second set 25-17.
The Huskies built a commanding 10-3 lead in the third set, but four-straight MSUM points forced a Husky timeout at 10-7. More back-and-forth play down the stretch brought the Dragons within one at 19-18 off a kill from freshman Madison Wassink. MSUM would fight off four match points to tie the score 24-24 off a block from Carlson and Jenkins. The Huskies managed to close out the final set by a score of 26-24.
MSUM plays their final home match tomorrow against No. 8 Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m.
