MOORHEAD — The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team lost a five-set heartbreaker to Minnesota State-Mankato by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25 and 15-13 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM fell to 5-8 overall and 2-3 in the NSIC with the loss while Minnesota State improved to 2-11 overall and 1-4 in the NSIC.

Junior outside hitter Bridget Witzmann had a career-high 24 kills for MSUM while junior middle blocker Tori Thompson had 12 and sophomore outside hitter Jadyn Feist had 10.

Freshman setter Emily Skalicky had a career-high 45 set assists while freshman libero Macie Wiemann had a career-high 33 set assists.

Feist and junior defensive specialist Brooke Walthall had 16 digs each while Skalicky and Witzmann had 14

Thompson had two solo blocks and an assist.

In a back-and-forth contest, MSUM was down 13-11 in the final set but kills from junior right-side hitter Teeya Doppler and Witzmann tied the set at 13-13. The Mavericks clinched the set with a kill and service ace.

Minnesota State won the first set but MSUM came back in the second. The Dragons held a 23-22 lead but Witzmann and senior middle blocker Elise Bakke finished off the set with kills to even the match at a set apiece.

Minnesota State won the third set as well and opened the fourth set on a 6-0 run but MSUM battled back.  The Dragons were down 21-18 in the fourth set but scored six points in a row, which included two kills and a block from Thompson, a kill from Feist and a service ace from Walthall.

The Mavericks added one more point before Witzmann finished off the set with a kill, setting up the fifth set.

The Dragons will host No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul at 2 p.m. on Saturday.