Box Score MINOT, N.D. – It took five sets to decide a winner in a match between two former NAIA foes Saturday night in the Minot State Dome.

After going back and forth for four sets, Minot State (7-8 overall, 3-3 NSIC) used a dominant fifth set to take the win over University of Sioux Falls (9-6 overall 1-5 NSIC) in Northern Sun play, 19-25, 32-30, 20-25, 25-16, 15-5.

After coming out of the gates slow in set one, the Beavers battled hard in the second set but again found themselves down 17-22. Head coach Travis Ward then called a timeout to regroup his squad.

Out the timeout momentum shifted as USF was called for a red card, awarding a point to Minot State. The Beavers then rattled off three straight points bringing the score to 21-22. The teams battled for 19 more points until MISU prevailed 32-30 to even things at one. Jen Dixon (Jr., OH, Brandon, Manitoba) had a fantastic set collecting nine kills.

"Sioux Falls is a fantastic program," said Ward. "For them show 1-5 is ridiculous and shows how good our conference really is. We got a little bit lucky in game two with a bad ref call, I thought, and it put us back in the game. Our girls handled it well and that was what we needed."

After trading sets three and four, the Beavers came out in the fifth set ready to play. The Beavers hit an astonishing .800 in the fifth set as they won their third consecutive NSIC home win.

Dixon led Minot State in both kills (22) and digs (17) in the win, while Mallory Sall (So., OH, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) had a solid game with 16 kills. Emily Byrne (Jr., S, Reno, Nev.) and Brooke French (Fr., S, Lethbridge, Alberta) split time at setter as they notched a total of 51 total assists in the win.

Although it doesn't jump out in the stat sheet, Whitney Hightower (Jr., L, Jefferson, Ore.) played a large role in the win. Hightower had eight total digs, many coming in crucial moments, and also did a nice job placing her serves.

"We brought in Whit as a junior from Linn Benton and she actually played for my club when I coached out there" said Ward, who coached in Oregon earlier in his career. "It took her a while to kind of get our defense. It's a little different and I think you are starting to see that fruition of being a consistent player out there."

The Cougars attack was led by Kate Hart with 16 kills while Emily Johnson also had 14 kills in the loss. University of Sioux Falls has now dropped five of their last six matches.

The Beavers will look to stay undefeated at home and capture the biggest win in program history as they host No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Minot State Dome.