ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Winona State volleyball team opened its season in fine fashion, rallying from a first set defeat to win three straight and post a 3-1 victory over Central Washington Friday in the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul.

Reigning AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year Danielle Rampart kicked off her sophomore season strong, tallying 19 kills and finishing with an excellent .419 hitting percentage, both match highs for either team.

But Rampart was far from the only bright spot, as the Warriors turned in a balanced effort as five sophomores reached double-digit kills in all, including Taylor Goar (13), newcomer Maria Fruechte (11), Lauren Kudronowicz (10) and McKenna Larsen (10). Goar finished just shy of a double-double with nine digs, while Rampart added eight and Larsen picked up seven.

The Warriors and Wildcats - who made the NCAA Tournament a year a go - were close through the first 20 points of the first set, with teams knotted at 10 points apiece. It looked like the Warriors were going to pull away from there, as WSU strung together a 7-0 run off the serve of Kudronowicz to open up a 17-0 advantage. But CWU countered with a 9-3 run of their own and quickly tied it at 21-21 and again at 23-23. But the Wildcats finished it off, taking their first lead since 2-1 and back-to-back errors by Goar allowed the Wildcats to steal the first game.

WSU would not let it haunt them, as a Kudronowicz ace – one six from the Warriors in the match compared to zero for the Wildcats - gave the Warriors an early 5-2 lead in game two. CWU would tie it at 15 apiece, but a 4-0 run was enough to propel WSU to a 25-22 win as the Warriors hit .300 in the set while holding CWU to just .156.

The Warriors took a 2-1 match lead in the third set despite cooling off statistically and hitting just .139. Another back-and-forth affair early on, the Warriors found another important spurt, taking six of seven points to open up a 19-14 lead capped off by a pair of kills from freshman Maria Wrage and cruised to the 25-20 win.

WSU saved its best for last, hitting a sweltering .424 with 18 kills to just four errors in the fourth and final set. The Warriors again found a late-game run to pull away from a 16-16 tie to take a 21-16 lead thanks in part to back-to-back aces from Rampart before finishing off the Wildcats with a 25-19 win.

Larsen picked up season double-double number one, dishing out a match-high 55 assists – tied for the second-most in her career – to pair with her 10 kills and solid .348 hitting percentage.

Junior Jamie Cairncross led the Warriors with 13 digs.

Winona State is back on the court Friday evening when it takes on No. 15 Palm Beach Atlantic at 7:30 at the Gangelhoff Center.