Box Score

MINOT, N.D.  – Minot State University volleyball said a lot about itself Monday in a five-set marathon loss to South Dakota Mines.

The Beavers, in the middle of a 10-match, 14 day stretch and saddled with multiple injuries, could have gone away after falling behind 2-0.
But MSU didn't and made a match of it, nearly pulling off the comeback before South Dakota Mines held off the charge, winning 15-11 in the fifth to take a 3-2 win in nonconference NCAA Division II women's volleyball Monday at the MSU Dome.

“I think it was fun to get those two sets and push it to five,” said MSU head coach Travis Ward. “But it would have been nice to get that last one. It would have said even more about our program to get that one.”

Still, Ward was overall pleased with his team's performance.

“We had a better game plan than last week against them and we defiantly fought,” he said.

But the Hardrockers (22-4) built a big lead with wins in set 1 (25-15) and set 2 (25-21) and pushed to an early lead in the fifth and deciding set without relinquishing it. MSU won sets 3 (25-19) and 4 (25-23) to force the deciding set.

The Beavers (9-12) again suffered from errors, especially hitting errors. MSU committed 38 hitting errors and attacked at a .086 clip for the match. Both numbers were far below what MSU needed to have to win against a solid Mines team.

“We have to have more from our outsides,” Ward said. “We can't have negative hitting percentages from the outside. It gets pretty one dimensional if we do.”

Mines was led by Justine Blade's 18 kills and Janelle Strampe's 14. The Hardrockers got 50 assists from Carsyn Garcia and 20 digs by Reanna Roberson.

Minot State countered with a match-high 19 kills from Jen Dixon (So., OH, Brandon, Manitoba), 14 kills from Janice Reinbolt (Sr., MH, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) and 10 kills from Sara Friesen (So., MH, Brandon, Manitoba), but hit just .143 in set 4 for its high of the match.

Jenna Moffatt (So., L, Brandon, Manitoba) and Emily Bryne (Fr., S, Reno, Nev.) split time setting as Byrne nurses an injury. Moffatt dished out 31 assists, while Byrne added 18. Brittney Thingstad (R-Fr., L, Velva, N.D.) led the Beavers with 23 digs.

“It was nice to get three rotations out of Emily. She just makes us better,” Ward said. “Jenna did a good job in a tough situation. Brittany was lights out at libero. She is going to make some mistakes, you expect that from a freshman libero, but she was real good overall.”

Minot State returns to the Dome Tuesday for a match with former Dakota Athletic Conference foe Mayville State beginning at 7 p.m. MSU then heads to Sioux Falls for a tournament Friday and Saturday to complete a hectic week.

“I think our goal all season long was to finish around .500 and the girls want to obviously finish above a that and we are right there,” Ward said. “This is a tough stretch for us and not a good time to have a big injury. We can't put in high reps.

“I said at the start of the season, if we win 10 matches, we overachieved and we are just one win from that. But this team is better than I gave them credit at the start. I don't think 10 wins is a good season now. We want to get to something like 15 at this point.”