SEWARD, Neb. – Minot State University rallied from a 2-1 deficit in its first match to win in five sets to earn a split of a pair of season-opening matches at the Concordia University (Neb.) Bulldog Bash Friday.
 
The Beavers (1-1 overall) dropped two of the first three sets against Lindenwood University-Belleville in the first match, but rallied to dominate down the stretch for a 3-2 win. In the nightcap against host Concordia University, the Beavers couldn't get a key point in both sets 1 or 2 in a 3-0 loss.
 
"We fought hard," said MSU head coach Ben Kaszeta. "We have a couple who are hurting right now, but we still had great fight."
 
Minot State will finish off the two-day tournament with matches against York College (Neb.) and Bethany College (Kan.) Saturday.
 
In the season opener against LU-Belleville, the Beavers found themselves down 2-1 after a pair of back-and-forth sets and one that wasn't so back-and-forth. MSU lost the ladder 25-15, but shook that off to roll 25-11 in set 4 to it to a fifth and deciding set. The Beavers again rolled to a 15-7 win to take the match.
 
"It wasn't a bad way to start the season – a five-set thriller," Kaszeta said. "We finally got comfortable in sets 4 & 5. We definitely looked like it was our first match of the year and were playing a team on their sixth."
 
Even in set 2 – in which the Beavers won 25-19 – hitting errors were the issue early on. MSU hit just .069 in set 1, improved at to .114 and then hit a poor -.192 in set 3 where the Beavers had 12 errors on 26 swings. But MSU shored that up, finishing the match with just four more errors total, hitting .263 and .278 respectively.
 
Janelle Nagy had a solid debut in a MSU uniform, finishing with a match-high 12 kills, adding 12 assists and four aces in the win. Kelsey Dewulf also had 12 assists and swatted a career-high eight aces. Shae Pedersen and Cindy Pelo tied for the team lead in digs with 11 while Pedersen adding eight kills.
 
"Cindy and Janelle were both solid all the way through," Kaszeta said. "The six freshmen that got to play did a great job. Shae had eight kills and 11 digs and was very solid in set 5.
 
"I was impressed at our attempt to stay in system. The team is working through a whole lot of new faces and adjusting to new roles. That's a great team win."
 
In the second match, the Beavers and host Bulldogs battled toe-to-toe in the first two sets, with the Beavers holding off four set points before falling 32-30 in set 2. The momentum from that set carried over to the third as Concordia finished MSU off.
 
MSU hit the ball better in the second match, but couldn't slow down CU as the Bulldogs hit .286.
 
Shelby Spuller and Pedersen finished with seven kills each and Emily Falldorf added six kills for MSU. Dewulf had 23 assists, Pelo added 15 digs and Hayley Swain paced MSU with 2.5 blocks.
 
MSU starts day 2 at the Bulldog Bash at 1 p.m. against York.
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.