MANKATO, Minn. - In a match with major league standings implications, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball relied on workhorse outside hitter Makenna Rockeman to move past Minnesota State with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 26-24) victory on Friday night. Rockeman connected on a career-best 25 kills to lead the Cougars to their sixth win in seven matches, improving their record to 12-6 overall with a 6-4 record in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition.
 
The match was critical for USF's NSIC Tournament hopes as the Cougars entered the weekend in eighth, just ahead of three teams, including Minnesota State (9-9, 3-7 NSIC). USF was slotted ninth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, one spot behind MSU, and the top eight teams earn a bid to the conference tournament. USF now holds a three-match lead over the Mavericks and the edge in the head-to-head tiebreaker with Friday's contest as the only matchup.
 
Outside of Rockeman's banner night, USF's offense struggled with Rockeman owning 25 of the Cougars' 54 kills and just nine of their 31 attack errors. However, the defense was stellar for USF, both at the net and in the back row. USF's NSIC-leading blocking defense posted 11 total blocks, including eight solo stuffs. Rockeman, Jordan Calef, Lexi Scott and Bria Barfnecht all had two solo blocks while Barfnecht combined with each of her three teammates for three block assists.
 
In the back row, Abby Folk led the Cougars with 13 digs, helping limit Minnesota State to a team attack percentage of .132. On top of her 46 assists, setter Sydney Schaap picked up her first career double-double by adding a career-high 11 digs on Friday.
 
Rockeman paced the Cougar offense throughout the night, and she finished just one kill shy of Emily Johnson's match record for kills, which she set twice in her career. Rockeman posted six kills in the first set, including one to start a 5-1 run that led the Cougars to the first-set win. Calef added four terminations in the 25-22 victory as USF recorded their best single-set attack percentage of the night, a .243 mark in the opening frame.
 
Despite a decline from 17 kills in the first set to 13 in the second, the Cougar defense carried them to a two-set lead in the match. Sioux Falls posted five of their 11 blocks in the second set, led by Scott's two solo stuffs. On offense, Rockeman began to break out, She connected on eight kills, all coming off a Schaap assist, and she led the Cougars to a 25-19 win for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Cougar offense stalled in the third set, registering just three kills as they suffered a 25-20 defeat to force a fourth set. Rockeman added five more kills, reaching 19 for the match through three sets.
 
In the fourth set, USF's attack returned with 14 kills, but Minnesota State kept pace with 13 of their own. The Cougars were in control early, holding a three-point lead for the first half of the set. A four-cpoint run by the Mavericks changed that and gave the home team their first lead of the deciding fourth set. Rockeman broke that streak with one of her six kills in the fourth set.
 
Minnesota State countered and pushed their lead to four, but Rockeman sparked the match-clinching run with two kills in a three-set span. After Rockeman's terminations, Schaap connected on conseucitve aces then Barfnecht turned in a kill to keep the Cougar spree rolling. Rockeman capped the 5-0 run that put USF on top 23-22 with a solo block. After MSU tied the match on the next point, Rockeman gave the Cougars their first match point with another solo stuff, but MSU fought off USF's winning chance. Barfnecht set the Cougars up for their second match point and they converted with help from a MSU error.
 
Sioux Falls concludes their weekend road trip with a 4 p.m. date at No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Oct. 15.