WAYNE, NEB. – The University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (7-4, 2-1 NSIC) had a three-match winning streak come to an end to No. 8 Wayne State (9-2, 2-1 NSIC), 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-22) on Tuesday night at Rice Auditorium.

In its second match this season against a nationally-ranked squad, USF fell, 3-0, but USF Head Volleyball Coach Dan Mathews was proud of how his team battled throughout the match.

"I was proud of the way our players represented our team tonight. Although Wayne State had a few runs and put some serious pressure on us, we never backed away from the challenge," said Mathews, whose team will host a pair of nationally-ranked teams this weekend at the Stewart Center. "We stayed focused on our effort, we stayed disciplined in our system and we stayed connected with each other," added Mathews of the Cougars who face No. 19 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night (Sept. 24) at 6 pm. Then, USF will face No. 20 St. Cloud State at 2 pm on Saturday at the Stewart Center.

"If we continue to put in the right work each day, there's no question that we'll be able to hang with these top teams as the season progresses," added Mathews.

The Cougars were hurt by its overall hitting percentage at .116 with 31 kills on 112 attacks with 18 errors. USF had six blocks, 29 assists, including 22 from Kristie Goerger, along with six service aces.

USF totaled 46 digs, including 14 from TiaRose Nagami and 11 from Madison Wassink, who had two service aces. Senior Averey Yaksich had eight kills on 39 attacks, four digs and two service aces. Nicole Jacobson tied Yaksich for a team-high with eight kills on 33 kills with five digs and three block assists.

WSC took the opening set by outscoring USF, 11-to-4, down the stretch to take the first set. The Cougars, which hit .184 with 11 kills on 38 attacks and four errors, jumped to a 3-1 lead before WSC rallied for a 5-4 advantage. From there USF took off on a 13-9 run to grab a 17-14 lead over the Wildcats as Yaksich has three kills. Then, Yaksich delivered a service ace for an 18-14 lead before WSC stopped the 4-0 USF run with a kill by Elly Larson. From there, WSC took control with a closing run to take the set. The Wildcats hit .158 with 13 kills on 38 attacks and seven errors. 
 
The Wildcats took control early in the second set and led 10-4 and 19-11 before finishing off a 25-17 set two win. WSC hit .462 with 15 kills on 26 attacks and just three errors. It was the difference in the set as USF hit just .067 with eight kills on 30 attacks and six service errors. USF had a 3-2 advantage in service aces but the kill differential – 15-to-8 -- proved to be the big difference. In that second set, WSC jumped to a 4-0 lead as the Cougars have a pair of attack errors and a block error.  USF ended a 7-1 run by the Wildcats as middle blocker Jordan Kuper, who had three kills and four block assists, recorded her third kill of the match to keep the score at 7-2. USF converted just one of 11 attacks to open the set as they trailed 10-3. At 13-6, USF had six attack and two service errors before taking a timeout. USF scored two straight points, including a pair of kills by Jacobson (3rd and fourth of the match) as they cut the lead to five, 14-9. A kill by Goerger and service ace from Marlee Schneider cut the deficit to 15-11. But WSC scored four straight to open up a 19-11 lead and battled USF, 6-6, down the stretch for the set win.

In the final set, USF and WSC battled before the Wildcats took a 25-22 set and match win. The Cougars had 12 kills on 44 attacks but eight errors for a .091 hitting percentage WSC had 14 kills on 47 attacks with seven errors for a .149 hitting mark. With her fourth kill of the match, Goerger gave USF a 4-3 lead early in the third set. Jacobson recorded her seventh kill as the Cougars tied the set at 10-10. The Wildcats took off on a 5-1 run on the strength of three straight kills. Jordyn Hamm, who had three kills on seven attacks for a .286 hitting mark plus two block assists, had a pair of kills to draw USF within, 20-17. Then, Jacobson had a kill and Wassink recorded a service ace as USF cut the deficit to 22-21. However, WSC, which was led by Kelsie Cada with 12 kills and a .231 hitting mark, closed on a 4-1 run to earn the match victory.

Update on Stats – So far this year, USF has a 500-to-401 advantage in kills with 1,214 attacks and a .264 hitting percentage. USF is averaging 12.8 kills per set. USF has an 11.7 assists per set mark and average 2.2 aces per set with 84 on the year to just 56 for opponents. In addition, USF had 488 digs (12.5 per set) and 68 blocks (1.7 per set).