WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State volleyball team held its own for the first two sets against sixth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State, but fell in straight sets Saturday afternoon in McCown Gym.

The Warriors had prime chances in the opening set, but couldn't capitalize. WSU dug itself out of an early 12-7 hole with four straight points to make it 12-11 and again crawled back from a 19-14 deficit with seven out of the next nine points to take a 21-20 lead. The Warriors held a 23-22 lead thanks to a service error by SMSU, but WSU gave the gift right back with a service error of its own to tie it up at 23-23 before back-to-back kills by Abbey Thissen gave SMSU the 25-23 first set victory.

WSU hung with the Mustangs in the second set as well, stringing together five straight points with back-to-back kills by Danielle Rampart giving the Warriors its largest lead of the match at 16-12 but SMSU would come back and prevail with a 25-22 victory and 2-0 match lead.

The Warriors struggled to find a rhythm in the third set, hitting just .025 with just eight kills as a team in the set in a 25-16 loss.

Danielle Rampart recorded her second double-double of the weekend and 12th of the season with her 11-kill, 16-dig effort while hitting .219.  The 11 kills tied a match-high with a pair of Mustangs.

McKenna Larsen dished out a match-high 26 assists, while Jamie Cairncross contributed double-digit digs to the defensive effort with 11.

As a team, WSU hit just .097 for the match while the Mustangs hit .236.

Winona State (14-5, 9-4 NSIC) will play its next three matches on the road, beginning with a pair of matchups next weekend vs. Wayne State and Augustana.