KENOSHA, Wis. – MSU Moorhead drew the short end in a back and forth battle with Purdue Northwest to begin the Hampton Inn Invitational. The Pride bested the Dragons 3-1 on Friday morning.
MSUM was able to jump in front 3-2 in the first set thanks to a kill from
Bridget Witzmann. From there, Purdue Northwest would gain a 4-3 lead and would not relinquish the advantage. The Pride would jump in front by as many as five points midway through the set (16-11) before the Dragons began to stir. MSUM would go on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 16, highlighted by a kill from the returning
Abby Thompson. The two teams would trade punches down the stretch with the score knotted at 19. From there, Purdue Northwest would go on a 5-0 run to put them within one of set point. While the Dragons would score on the ensuing rally, the Pride would eventually take the set 25-20.
Set number two would again see MSUM gain an early three-point advantage thanks to a service ace from
Emily Skalicky and a kill from
Jocelin Feutz. Again, the teams would go back and forth in the early going, moving the score to 8-8. The Pride would move in front by three points before kills from Feutz and Witzmann pulled the Dragons to within one point. Purdue Northwest would proceed to go on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 18-10 behind three consecutive kills and a service ace. From there, the Dragons would be unable to make up the ground needed to win the set. The Pride hit for a .258 percentage in the set (to MSUM's .062) to take set two 25-15.
MSUM would regroup in the third set, building a 7-4 advantage thanks to kills from Witzmann,
Jadyn Feist and
Raiah Mandell. The two teams would go back and forth midway through the set with both teams locked at 14 points each. Kills from
Abby Thompson and
Bridget Witzmann would help the Dragons move in front by two points. Purdue Northwest would once again respond with a 3-0 run to regain the lead. Witzmann would add a kill and a service ace from there to bring the Dragons closer to 25 (21-19). MSUM would outscore the Pride 4-2 down the stretch as a Mandell kill solidified a 25-21 set win for the Dragons. Despite seven attack errors in the frame, MSUM upped their hitting percentage to .243 in the set.
The fourth set saw more of the same as both teams would battle for points with the Pride in a position to win the match. MSUM would tie the set at seven points thanks to another kill from
Abby Thompson. Down 10-9, MSUM would fall victim to a 4-0 Pride run that put them up by five points midway through the frame. Purdue Northwest would hold the five-point lead before the Dragons cut it to three with a 3-1 run (19-16). Back-to-back kills from
Raiah Mandell would bring the Dragons to within two points as the Pride were eyeing match point (23-21). While the Dragons would have the score at 24-22, Purdue Northwest would finish off the match with a kill.
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Up Next
MSUM (2-3) is back on the floor in Kenosha this evening as they will challenge Truman State at 5 p.m.
