WINONA, Minn. – The No. 25 Winona State volleyball team earned its second win over a top five team this season, upsetting No. 4 Wayne State in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon in McCown Gymnasium.

The Warriors, which dropped the first set 25-18, battled back with an impressive 30-28 win in the second set to even the match score at 1-1. WSU then took a match lead with a 25-19 third set victory before the Wildcats forced a fifth set with a 25-22 win. But the Warriors finished the job with a 15-11 victory in the final frame.

Taylor Goar matched a season-high with a match-best 22 kills to power a balanced Warrior attack, as five Warriors finished with double-digit kills. Maria Fruechte added 12 kills, while Maria Wrage and McKenna Larsen contributed 11 kills each and Lauren Kudronowicz finished with 10 kills.

WSU was strong defensively as well, with four Warriors recording 20 or more digs. Goar led the way with a career-high 29, while Rampart had 27, Larsen had a career-high 21 and Jamie Cairncross had 20.

Larsen, along with her 53 assists, notched her third career triple double.

After a slow start, the Warriors responded nicely in the second set in a back-and-forth marathon of a set where neither team ever built more than a two-point advantage. A kill from Maria Wrage put the Warriors up 23-21 and after the Wildcats survived three match points and had two of their own, another Wrage kill gave WSU a much-needed 30-28 victory to even the score.

The back-and-forth match continued in the third set, as the teams again were separated by no more than two points until the Warriors finally built a 12-8 lead. A Larsen kill built a 15-9 lead, but an ace from WSC's Bree Ackermann cut the lead back to 16-14. But the Warriors answered with a 4-0 spurt and claimed the 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 win.

The Warriors had a chance to end it in four sets as they held a 20-19 lead, but the Wildcats forced a fifth set with the 25-22 win.

WSU saved its best for last, hitting a fantastic .450 in the final set while holding Wayne State to .208 to claim the fifth set upset as Goar finished it off for the 15-11 win.

Winona State (18-9, 12-8 NSIC) earns the No. 6 seed in the 2015 NSIC Volleyball Tournament and will face No. 3 Northern State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Aberdeen, S.D.