The Missouri Western volleyball team struggled in the first match of the 2013 NSIC Challenge against the St. Cloud State Huskies falling 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 15-25, 25-19). The Griffons were led by sophomore right side hitter Jessie Thorup with 13 kills. In the second match of the day the Griffons fell in a heartbreaker 3-2 after winning the first two sets. The Griffons fall to 2-4 on the season. They will take on the University of Sioux Falls at 2:00 pm and close out the challenge with a match at Augustana at 7:00 pm.

St. Cloud State Match
Box Score | Season Stats | Career Stats
The two teams played the first 18 points of set one to a 9-9 tie. The next few points would be all Huskies as they used an 8-2 run claiming a 17-11 lead after an attack error by Erica Rottinghaus. The Griffons remained calm going on a 10-5 run cutting St. Cloud’s lead to 22-21 after a Thorup kill. Unfortunately the Huskies would close out the set winning 25-22.

In set two a 9-1 run midway through the set by the Huskies helped them build a 16-8 lead. The Griffons outscored St. Cloud 11-9 the rest of the way but it was to little to late as they fell 25-19 in the second set.

The Griffons responded nicely in the third set taking control early and cruising to a 25-15 victory. The Griffons had 11 kills in the set while hitting .206. In the fourth set the Griffons got down early and could never recover falling 25-19 in the set and 3-1 in the match. The Huskies improve to 4-1 with the victory on the season.

The Griffons hit .135 in the match with 42 kills. Thorup and Rottinghaus combined for 24 of those kills while Erin Backhuus finished with nine. Jordan Chohon had a nice match setting the ball finishing with 35 set assists while Sarah Faubel led the way defensively with 19 digs.

The Huskies finished the match hitting .108 with 48 kills. Dani Domeier led the way with 13 kills while Erin Ohlemann had 21 set assists. Defensively three different Huskies had 15 digs in the match.

— MWSU Sports Information —