MARSHALL, Minn. - Not wasting any time getting into the tough Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season schedule, the Sioux Falls volleyball squad had a tough offensive night against No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State and was swept on Tuesday night.

The Cougars (5-5, 0-1 NSIC) were held to a season-low .043 attack percentage (25-22-93) with its two outside hitters combining for 16 of the teams' 22 hitting errors.

Southwest Minnesota State (6-3, 1-0 NSIC) set the tone early, dominating the first set with strong defense on the net to earn a 25-9 win. USF committed 11 attack errors in the first stanza with eight coming off SMSU blocks.

Rebounding quickly, Sioux Falls put up a much tougher fight in the second set, but the eighth-ranked Mustangs were still too much and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 victory. Kate Hart led a resurgent USF offense with four error-free kills as the Cougars hit .281 (13-4-32) in the second set, but still came up short.

SMSU pounced on the Cougars early in the third and ran away with a 25-16 set win to complete the sweep. USF's offensive woes returned as they managed just nine kills with seven errors.

Michelle Ritland posted a USF-best seven kills with just two errors. The Mustangs had four players register at least seven kills.

The Cougars head back on the road to take on St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 19 and 20, respectively.