SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- With 15 kills from Averey Yaksich, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (14-8, 9-5 NSIC) took a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-27, 27-25, 25-21) over the No. 13 Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs (17-5, 9-5 NSIC) on Thursday night in the Stewart Center. 

The Cougars last upset over a top-25 team at home was a 3-0 decision against No. 1 Concordia St. Paul on Oct. 27, 2018. It is USF's second win over a ranked team as the Cougars defeated Winona State, 3-0, at Winona, Minn., on Oct. 16. With a second straight victory, the Cougars have won seven of their past nine matches in NSIC play and moved into a tie with SMSU for sixth place in the NSIC standings. 

USF Head Coach Dan Mathews was really pleased with his team's ability to rally tonight from down 18-9 in set three and beat a nationally-ranked team.

"What I really loved about tonight's match was our tenacity and our ability to stay after balls and to win points," said Mathews, whose team heads down the road to take on city rival Augustana on Saturday at 5 pm in the Elmen Center. "This was a really nice win for our program. To beat a nationally-ranked team for the second time this year was huge."

Mathews was also grateful for the energy in the Stewart Center from fans and supporters tonight. "It was everything (the support). Without the fans we don't come back. It was fun to see the support from the other student-athletes and from other members of the community," he said.

USF  finished with a .191 hitting mark with 52 kills on 141 attacks and 25 errors in a heavily-competed match. The Mustangs, which hit .189 on 54 kills on 143 attacks and 27 errors, had a 54-52 edge in kills. USF had an 8-5 margin in service aces including three from freshman Jordyn Hamm, who also hit .312 with seven kills on 16 attacks. Individually, the Cougars were led with 15 kills from Yaksich, who hit .237 and had her 10th double double with 10 digs.

USF also had nine kills from Albrecht, who hit .333 on 15 attacks. Sophomore Nicole Jacobson added eight kills. USF also had a big match from freshman Jordan Kuper who had seven kills and was a defensive force with nine block assists. She helped USF record a season-best 14 total blocks.

Setter Krista Goerger led the team in hitting percentage (.444. - four kills - nine attacks), had 38 assists and six blocks, including a solo. Senior TiaRose Nagami supplied eight digs to help USF continue to fight off attacks from SMSU.

USF opened the match with three straight points before SMSU had a block to draw within, 3-1. However, SMSU had a 10-4 run to take an 11-7 lead. Cougars scored four straight to draw even with Madison Wassink (two service aces on the night) on serve. With two service aces by Goerger and a kill by Yaksich, the Cougars grabbed a 17-14 lead. Kuper put down a block and USF built a 21-17 lead. With a kill from Jacobson, who had four in the set, USF closed the set at 25-21. Yaksich had five kills as USF had 13 in the set and took the opener despite hitting .105.  

In the second set, Albrecht knocked home a pair of kills as the Cougars tied the set at 9-9. After a kill by Jacobson the Cougars had a 12-10 lead. An SMSU ball handling error and USF kill by Kuper helped the Cougars to a 14-11 advantage. Hamm finished a kill and USF took a 18-15 advantage. USF moved to a 22-18 lead before SMSU scored six straight to take a 24-22 advantage before the Cougars rallied to tie the match. SMSU took a 27-25 set victory as they had a 27-26 kills edge even though USF had a 4-2 edge in service kills. 

In set three, the Mustangs took a 6-5 lead before Yaksich's service ace tied the match. SMSU scored five straight points for an 11-6 lead.  After USF stopped the run, SMSU had another 4-1 run to take an 18-9 advantage. At that point, the Cougars answered with a set saving run. USF had a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to 22-19. USF continued its 18-7 run and captured the set 27-25 with a block from Kuper to finish off the set as USF led, 2-1.  In one of the biggest rallies ever in USF Volleyball history, USF hit .273 with 13 kills, six blocks and a service ace to rally to win the set.   

In set four, Cougars rallied from down 6-3 with Yaksich registering two kills to take the lead on a 6-2 run. With a Kuper kill from the middle and a service ace from Hamm, USF built a 14-10 advantage. Later, Hamm had her seventh kill of the match for a 20-16 lead and led to a timeout by SMSU. The Cougars went on the win the fourth and final set, 25-21, over the Mustangs as USF earned its fourth win in the all-time series with the Mustangs.



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