Box Score MINOT, N.D. – After a thrilling five set victory Friday night, the Minot State volleyball team looked to capture a big win as they hosted No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University Saturday afternoon in the Minot State Dome.

The Mustangs (12-3 overall, 6-0 NSIC) showed why their nationally ranked seventh as they took down Minot State (7-9 overall, 3-4 NSIC) in straight sets 25-23, 25-16, 25-17.

In the first set the Beavers were down 15-7 when the energy of the match shifted towards MISU. Ashley Heavenor (So., L, Cochrane, Alberta) rattled off two consecutive aces which energized the squad as they battled back to make things interesting. However, the Mustangs held on to take the set 25-23, despite hitting just .163 to open play.

"They (SMSU) passed well," said Minot State head coach Travis Ward. "They stayed in system well and served us out of system a lot, so definitely a lot credit to them."

The last two sets were all SMSU as they hit over .300 while holding Minot State's hitting percentage under .067. The Mustangs were led by Abbey Thissen with 13 kills while Claire Sames chipped in with 11 kills. Also noteworthy, Rachel Westby had 17 digs for the Mustangs in the win.

Minot State, who hit just .096 for the match, was led by Jen Dixon (Jr., OH, Brandon, Manitoba) with nine kills. Dixon also notched 12 digs in the loss. Mallory Sall (So., OH, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) also had eight kills and three digs for the Beavers.

"We didn't make as good of decisions tonight," said Ward. "We were out of system a lot more tonight than we were yesterday. We have to do better from the service line and cause havoc into their system of play and we didn't get enough out of our swings tonight."

The Beavers will look to get back to .500 in the Northern Sun and pull the upset as they host No. 2 University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Minot State Dome.