The University of Sioux Falls volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull off the biggest win in program history, stunning the sixth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs on their home court Tuesday night in Marshall, Minn. Set scores were 15-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-16 and 15-13.
It is the Cougars' (13-8, 5-7 NSIC) first-ever win against a NCAA Division II-ranked opponent and their first victory over a ranked foe of any sort since 2003 (Dordt College).
The Mustangs (15-5, 10-2) had not lost at home since Nov. 10, 2012.
The junior trio of Emily Johnson, Kate Hart and Samantha Lovell led the Cougars' offense. Johnson and Hart floored 11 kills apiece, while Lovell pounded 10 terminations and threw down a career-best 11 blocks, three of the solo variety.
Freshman Jordan Calef chipped in with eight kills and took match-high honors with a gaudy .538 attack percentage (8-1-13).
SMSU had four players post double-digit kills, led by Abbey Thissen's match-best 17 terminations. Whitney Burmeister tallied the lone double-double of the match, finishing with 15 kills and 10 digs.
The Cougars, fifth in the NSIC in hitting, turned to their defense to stop the Mustangs. The Cougars dominated at the net outblocking SMSU 18.0 to 7, while digging 54 of SMSU's 172 attempts. Senior libero Andrea Odbert paced the Cougars' back row defense with 17 digs. Alexa Reed narrowly missed a double-dip, dishing 37 assists to go with nine digs. The senior setter also had four kills and was credited with a block assist.
USF appeared to be out of sync from the start, committing 12 attack errors and hitting a combined .121 (19-12-59) in the first two frames. The Mustangs took advantage of the Cougar miscues, opening set one with a 5-0 run and leading by as many as 11 at 22-11 en route to the easy 25-15 win.
The Cougars appeared to have things figured out in game two as they moved ahead 7-4 with a Hart stab, but could only watch as SMSU went on a 12-3 spurt to force USF head coach Joel McCartney to call timeout with the Cougars trailing 10-7 and 16-10. USF never got closer than five points the rest of the way and SMSU cruised to the 25-19 win and 2-0 set advantage going into intermission.
The third set saw the Mustangs and Cougars with 12 tied scores and five lead changes before USF rode its potent serving to set victory. SMSU held match point in the third set with the score 25-24 but Ellen Degler's service error tied up the score. USF used NSIC leading service specialist Becky Wessel to reel off two straight points and take the set.
The momentum carried over into the fourth set as the Cougars blazed their way to a 10-2 lead thanks in large part of Calef and Michelle Ritland, who each floored a pair of kills during the Cougar blitz. SMSU used up both of its timeouts just nine points into the frame and could do nothing to stop the onslaught by the Cougars and went down tamely, 25-16.
Coming off Saturday's five-set victory at Minnesota State, the Cougars were ready for the race to 15 points. The decisive frame was back-and-forth throughout before the Cougars surged ahead 10-8 when Hart and Calef floored back-to-back kills. The Mustangs chased down the Cougars and to tie it at 13-all, but Lovell delivered the crucial kill for the sideout and match point before USF that turned to its serving once again. This time it was Emily Johnson, who put the Mustangs out of position defensively and allowed a clean attack and kill by Kate Hart to knock off the No. 6 Mustangs in their home gym.
SMSU edged the Cougars in attack percentage by the slimmest of margins, .221-.220.
The Cougars have won back-to-back five set matches on the road and improved to 4-3 this season in the race to 15 points.
With a 5-7 mark in NSIC play, USF has also equaled last year's conference win total and have moved into ninth place in the league standings. The top eight squads qualify for the NSIC postseason tournament.
USF will host eight-place Minnesota Crookston (11-9, 6-6) on Friday at 7 p.m.
