Volleyball sweeps Moorhead, fall to Northern State
The Minnesota State (MSU) volleyball team played their final home games of the season against MSU Moorhead (MSUM) and Northern State, going 1-1 on the weekend.
The Mavericks got the best of the Dragons in a 3-0 contest, but MSU Moorhead came out and gave the Mavericks a run for their money right away in the first set.
The Mavericks got off to a great 6-2 start, until MSUM came and tied it at 8-8 with a couple of attack errors from MSU.
The entire set would be neck and neck between the two squads until the Dragons had the biggest lead of the set since the very beginning at 23-20.
Minnesota State stayed persistent and went on a 6-1 run, winning the first set 26-24.
The Mavericks were not going to let that happen again, going into the next set making a statement.
The Minnesota State Mavericks held the pace for the entirety of the set, winning set two 25-9, not letting the Dragons have any wiggle room.
In set three, the Mavericks kept their momentum going, jumping out to an 11-3 lead. Both teams had streaky performances in the set, but the Mavericks ultimately came out on top with a 25-13 set win, and sweeping the Dragons at home 3-0.
Going into Saturday’s match against the Northern State Wolves, the Mavericks wanted to end their final home series on a high note, and were in pretty good shape to do so. Until they weren’t.
Minnesota State were able to come out on top in the first set in a close 25-22 match.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in set two, and maintained their lead for the entirety of the set. Minnesota State kept extending their lead throughout, and took the 2-0 lead with a 25-18 set win.
In a great position to come out of the weekend with two 3-0 sweeps, Northern had other plans.
Set three had a very close back and forth match with the Wolves leading 10-9 in the set, but jumped on a massive 7-1 run. Minnesota State brought it back within three points, but it would be as close as they could get, dropping set three 25-22.
Set four was on a similar track, with the score staying tight throughout the whole set, getting to an even 20-20 match. Northern State kicked it into gear at that point, earning five of the final six points on the board, and tying the match at two apiece with a 25-21 win.
In the shortened set five, Minnesota State had the lead at 5-4, but that would be it for the Mavericks, when Northern State continued on an 11-3 run, closing out the set 15-8 and completing the reverse sweep against the Mavericks.