MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team earned the win in a five-set thriller with Bemidji State on Saturday, winning 23-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-5, 17-15.
 
MSUM is now 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. BSU falls to 3-9, 1-4 NSIC.
 
The Dragons were led by freshman outside hitter Amanda Carlson who provided 20 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Kylie Kanwischer who hit a blistering .485 with 17 kills on 33 swings. Sophomore setter Lauren Kiewiet had 32 assists, and her freshman counterpart Katelyn Selensky added 21 assists. Selensky led the team with 24 digs, and she was closely followed by senior libero Monica Vega's 23 digs. Three additional Dragons provided double-digit digs. MSUM had a season-high 16 aces, and leading the pack was Selensky with five.
 
In the first set, the Dragons managed to tie the game 5-5 from a kill from Kiewiet. The Beavers went on a run and took a 13-8 lead. MSUM came out of a timeout with a four-point run of their own to pull within one at 13-12. The game remained close until the very end as BSU too the first set 25-23.
 
Set two featured back-and-forth action until a run by the Dragons put them up 9-7. Late in the set, Jenkins went on a service run featuring back-to-back aces as the Dragons took a commanding 21-13 lead. MSUM controlled the remainder of set two and closed out the set 25-14 thanks to back-to-back blocks by Kanwischer and Kiewiet.
 
Both teams fought for points in set three and managed to keep the game close. An ace from Kiewiet put the Dragons up 12-9 before the Beavers would fight back to tie the game 16-16. The Dragons were up 24-22 before the Beavers came back with four straight points to take a 26-24 victory.
 
The fourth set featured the most dominant play from the Dragons this season. A serving run from Jenkins put the Dragons up 12-3. The run featured three kills from Carlson, two from Kanwischer, and one from both Selensky and Kiewiet. The Dragons managed to side out and went on an incredible 11-point run in which Selensky tallied four aces. Aces were the name of the game as another service ace, this time from Carlson, gave the Dragons a 25-5 victory.
 
In the fifth set the Dragons went up 5-2 early, forcing a BSU timeout. The Dragons would double their lead at 8-4 thanks to kills from Selensky and Carlson. The Beavers would not go down quietly and tied the score 11-11. There would be five more tied scores down the home stretch, but the Dragons would pull off a thrilling 17-15 victory off an ace from Vega.
 
The Dragons will be back in action next weekend on the road as they face Minnesota Duluth Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. and St. Cloud State Sept. 22 at 2 p.m.