Mavericks volleyball goes 1-1 against NSU and MSU-Moorhead
Jenna Peterson
Staff Writer
The Minnesota State Mavericks took one game and lost another this weekend against No. 3 Northern State and Minnesota State University, Moorhead this weekend.
On Friday, the Mavericks hosted the Northern State Wolves and did everything they could to continue their winning streak but fell short. In the first set, the Wolves didn’t hesitate to take a 7-2 lead and in response, the Mavericks attempted to fight back with a 6-3 run. Due to the Mavericks’ late start, the Wolves’ were able to take set one with a score of 25-20.
The second set started very similar to the first one, as Northern State came out early and lead 7-3. The Mavericks were able to keep the score close by giving the ball to senior Morgan Olson as much as they could.
Both teams fought hard and kept a close score, but after some time, the Wolves were able to bring in a kill with a 24-23 edge and win the second set 25-23.
The Mavericks were determined to not get swept and started the third set off strong. The score might have been tight in the beginning, but the Mavericks managed to pull out an 8-3 run. The Wolves tried to fight back, but the Maverick power was too much for them and MSU took the set, 25-20.
In the fourth and final set, the Wolves regained their power and started with a 13-4 and eventually resulted in a Northern State set win of 25-12.
Olson finished the game with a team leading 20 kills and sophomore Dana Schindler reported a team-high 38 assists.
On Saturday, MSU got back into the swing of things when they won against MSU-Moorhead. The first set began with the Mavericks gaining an early start with a 15-11 lead behind a balanced attack from Olson and senior Anissa Janzig.
The Dragons lacked the ability to fight back and that resulted in the Mavericks taking the first set 25-18.
Moorhead started the second set with an 11-8 lead until the Mavericks responded with a 10-1 run, causing a 25-18 win for Minnesota State and a 2-0 match lead.
The third set started with an even 10-10 score, before the Mavericks went on a 6-1 run. The Dragons couldn’t take the heat and dropped the third set 25-21.
Olson ended the game with 19 kills and Janzig, senior Haley Shimon and senior Ashton Lee all finished with eight kills.
Schindler ended with 43 assists and 10 digs, while also adding four kills.
Altogether, the Mavericks attacked at a .396 rate compared to .214 from the Dragons.
The Mavericks will play a home game on Thursday against No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul. They will then hit the road on Saturday to face the Winona State Warriors.