Maverick volleyball fall to Warriors, prepare for Eagles, Dragons

The Mavericks started out stumbling with two massive misplays, but fought back with a huge rally to get their first point.

There was a lot of back and forth as the Mavs edged out the lead, but UMary kept it a competitive game, coming back from being down 17-11, to 22-21.

Minnesota State pulled ahead with the last few points, and took the first set, 25-22.

The Mavericks took control of the second set immediately and made UMary fight for their right to win. 

By the time UMary took it’s second timeout of the set, the Mavs were in the lead 20-12. The second timeout led the Marauders to getting a point back right away, but the Mavs earned two more with some great communication and even better passing. The Mavs then took the set 25-17, with their eyes focused on a hopeful sweep.

In the third set, UMary took their first lead since the first couple points of the match. It doesn’t last long with the Mavericks tying it back at 6-6. The single point lead changed a couple more times, until the Mavericks started to pull away, leaving the Marauders in the dust with an 11-7 lead.

UMary kept fighting for their lives, scoring the next eight out of nine points, and taking the one point lead, 15-14.

The Marauders looked the best they had all day in the midst of the third set, keeping pace with MSU, until the Mavs tallied three in a row, taking a 22-19 lead.

The Mavericks end the set 25-21, and take the first sweep at home since the 2019 season.

Ellie Danielson and Kiya Durant led the Mavericks in kills in their first home contest of the season with 10 each, while Jessica Nelson was close behind the pair with nine of her own.

Libero Mara Quam held down the MSU side of the court, leading the team with 22 digs. When it wasn’t up to Quam, Brooke Bolwerk got the job done tallying 16 digs.

With the win, the Mavs improved to 6-3 (1-0 NSIC), and kept UMary at a winless 0-7 (0-1 NSIC).

The following afternoon, the Mavericks returned to Bresnan Arena to take on their second NSIC opponent, Minot State.

The Mavericks came barrelling out of the gates with seven straight points, forcing Minot to call a timeout to get their act together.

The timeout resulted unsuccessful, as MSU scored four more points before the BSU could get on the board.

The Beavers got a bit more competitive as the first set went on, bringing it to a 20-11 game, although it wouldn’t be enough as the Mavericks went on to win the set 25-14.

The Mavs started the second set in a very similar fashion, this time with Minot getting on the board a tad earlier. The set came to 9-7 with the Beavers giving the Mavericks a reason to fight. Minnesota State went on to score 12 of the next 14 points, extending their lead 21-9. The Mavericks kept their domination alive, winning the set 25-12.

The Mavs stay consistent with their play, making Minot scramble to get at least one set off their NSIC opponent. Minnesota State led the Beavers in the third set, 13-5, and showed no signs of slowing down. The Mavs swept the Beavers in the third set (25-12), taking their second win of the weekend.

The Mavericks put on a display of pure dominance over the weekend, and head coach Corey Phelps believes that they are just now hitting their stride. “Right now, we’re starting to understand our capabilities…We’ve learned quite a bit over the past three weeks, and we’re now starting to understand what it takes to play at a high level,” Phelps said following Saturday’s win. 

The level that the Minnesota State squad is playing at will be put to the test tonight in the Taylor Center, as Winona State comes into town for the first time in almost two years.

“I’m excited,” Phelps said about the upcoming matchup. “They are the first legit top of the country team that we’ve seen…It’s going to be a very difficult challenge that I’m excited to see how we react.”

The contest between the Mavericks (7-3, 0-1 NSIC) and Warriors (9-1, 1-1 NSIC) will take place tonight in the Taylor Center at 6 p.m.