WINONA, Minn. – The sixth ranked Winona State Warriors (25-3,16-3 NSIC) took on upset minded St. Cloud State (8-20, 3-16 NSIC) Friday night, dispatching the Huskies in five sets, 24-26, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 15-12. The victory was WSU's tenth straight, matching their season high. It was also the fist event for the Warriors in the newly renovated McCown gymnasium.
The Warriors and Huskies began play battling for the lead before Winona State began to separate themselves after being tied at eight a piece. St. Cloud State went on a run after being down 21-17 to fight back and complete their first set comeback, winning 26-24. The Huskies out hit the Warriors in the first set with a .209 attack percentage while WSU attacked at a .125 clip. The Huskies defense proved to be a major factor to begin play as they compiled five total team blocks compared to the Warriors one.
Taylor Goar led both sides with six kills and seven digs.
McKenna Larsen led the way with 13 assists in the first set. Larsen also added a block assist and four digs.
Looking to build off of their first set momentum, the Huskies started the second set with a 7-4 advantage. The Warriors battled back to gain their first lead of the set at 12-11. Winona State refused to relinquish their lead edging out St. Cloud State, 25-18. WSU improved largely in team attack percentage as they out hit the Huskies .258-.000 in the second set.
Jordan Runge led the way with nine total attacks including three kills. Goar and
Jamie Cairncross tied for the team lead with three digs apiece. Larsen added 11 assists to bring her two set total to 24.
After trailing 18-10 in the third set the Warriors comeback attempt fell short as St. Cloud State held on for a 25-19 win to open up a set advantage over Winona State. The Huskies out attacked the Warriors .233- .103.
Maria Wrage had three kills and one block assist. Larsen added seven assists bringing her total to 31.
St. Cloud State got out to another early advantage to begin the fourth set, 11-3. A WSU timeout followed by two consecutive kills by Goar started a five-point run reducing the Husky lead to three. The Warriors continued to fight after their slow start to take the fourth set 25-21 and force the fifth set. Winona State attacked at a .161 clip out attacking St. Cloud State who had a .115 total attack percentage. Goar had four kills while adding three digs.
Lauren Kudronowicz added 11 total attacks including three kills and five digs.
Maria Fruechte led WSU with nine digs in the set. Larsen's fifteen assists brought her four set total to 46.
The Huskies had a two-point advantage in the final set before both teams switched sides at the eight-point mark. A five point run from the Warriors forced set point as Winona State escaped with the win, 15-12. Their .346 team attack percentage in the final set was WSU's best on the night. Goar's four kills and five digs which were all Warrior set highs. Larsen finished with 53 assists just two short of the Huskies total.
Quick Hitters:
Goar's 16 kills led both sides and she needs just two more to reach 1,000 for her career.
She also totaled 66 attacks and led the Warriors with 22 digs.
Runge and Kudronowicz each compiled 12 kills.
The 12 kills for Runge was a career best.
Wrage finished with ten kills.
Fruechte added 14 digs while
Alex Duxbury had a season high ten digs.
Five Warriors had at least ten digs on the night.
Fruechte added eight kills offensively.
Cairncross finished with 20 digs and one serving ace.
The Warriors are now just three wins' shy of tying the 1990 team for the most wins in school history. The 1990 Warriors finished 28-10.
On three other Winona State volleyball teams have won 25 matches, doing so in 1986 (27), 1987 (25) and 1990 (28).
Winona St. looks to move up in the polls in their season finale as they take on the second ranked University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 3:30 P.M.
By: Jake Thiede
