WINONA, Minn. –Knocking off their second top-25 ranked team this season, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball stormed past No. 15 Winona State, 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 11-25, 25-21), on Saturday night. The Cougars rebounded from a loss the previous night to improve their record to 13-5 overall, with an 8-5 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
 
Bouncing back from their loss on Friday night, the Cougars reentered the NSIC Tournament contention, for which the top eight teams in the conference standings earn a bid. At 8-5, Sioux Falls is in a five-way tie for fifth place with seven matches remaining.
 
Juniors Makenna Rockeman and Lexi Scott paced the Cougar offense, which was guided by Megan Hamstad's 29 assists. Rockeman connected on five kills to fuel USF's first-set win then Scott carried the Cougars to their second-set victory for an important 2-0 lead in the match. Last season, the Cougars took the first set off Winona State when they the Warriors were ranked No. 7. Last year, the Cougars dropped the final three sets for a 3-1 loss, emphasizing USF's second-set win paramount for the upset.
 
While the Cougars were limited to a .184 attack percentage, the Cougar defense held Winona State to a .170 mark for the match. In the first two sets, USF forced the Warriors to commit 18 attack errors, which led to a .026 attack percentage. Leading USF's back-row defense was senior libero Janelle Lam, who picked up a match-high 18 digs, while a team effort of seven more Cougars recorded five or more digs.
 
At the net, USF posted 10.5 blocks to aid their clutch defense. Scott had a pair of solo blocks and Abby Feyereisen added one solo stuff and each USF middle blocker finished with five blocks along with right-side hitter Bria Barfnecht.
 
The Cougars rolled in the first set, putting down 13 kills with just two errors. After winning the first six points, the Cougars raced out to a 15-4 lead and coasted to their 25-17 victory with Rockeman's five kills pacing the offense.
 
In the second set, the Cougars trailed early, but a 10-4 run sparked by three Averey Yaksich kills helped them to a lead. Responding quickly after falling behind two points, the Cougars capitalized on several Winona State errors and Scott tacked on four kills in the frame to lead USF to their 2-0 lead with a 25-22 victory.
 
Winona State returned to form in the third set and returned the pressure to the Cougars, holding USF to just seven kills in the third frame. WSU cruised to a 25-11 win in the third set, drawing within one set of Sioux Falls at 2-1.
 
Seizing their opportunity, Sioux Falls jumped out to a quick lead in the fourth set, initially by a 6-3 advantage. Winona State erased that deficit but USF answered, winning the next eight points for a 14-6 cushion. Each time Winona State made a run at the Cougar lead, Rockeman and the Cougars answered. The junior outside hitter put down eight kills in the final set, leading USF to their 25-21 match-clinching victory.
 
The Cougars return to the Stewart Center where they host No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State on Oct. 27 and 28, respectively, as part of the USF Volleyball Alumni Appreciation Weekend.