ST. PAUL, Minn. – In their NCAA Tournament debut Winona State (27-5) picked up their first NCAA Tournament win, beating Minnesota Duluth 21-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-22. It was the Warriors first win over the Bulldogs (25-5) since October 5, 1990.
Minnesota Duluth jumped out early in the first set, winning the race ten and leading by four. Winona State cut the deficit to two at 11-9 but the Bulldogs went back up four, 14-10, forcing a WSU timeout. The timeout failed to slow the UMD momentum as they pushed their lead to 16-10 before a service error put the Warriors back on the scoreboard. The Warriors would use their second timeout of the set after an attack error gave Winona State a 21-14 lead. Following the pause in play Winona State scored three straight, cutting the UMD lead to five. Refusing to quit, the Warriors forced another timeout after two straight points shaving the UMD lead down to three at 24-21, unfortunately the Bulldogs won the set immediately following the timeout.
The Bulldogs hit .311 in the opening set with 18 kills. The Warriors had 15 assists and 15 kills in the opening set.
Taylor Goar led the Warriors with five kills.
McKenna Larsen had all 15 assists in the set.
Winona State would hold a slight edge early in the second set, grabbing their first lead of the match by scoring the first point of the set. The lead grew to four at 11-7 forcing a Bulldogs timeout. The timeout worked momentarily but a kill from
Danielle Rampart and a block from
Maria Wrage put Winona State up 16-10. The second timeout followed the Warriors flurry of points but again it did not slow the momentum. Winona State kept pushing and their lead grew to nine at 21-12. Winona State would hold for a 25-15 victory in the second set.
An 8-1 run in the second set was a big part of the Warriors success. The Winona State defense held the Bulldogs to just .044 attacking. The Warriors were able to get their hands on a lot of Bulldog attacks in the second set. Goar again had five kills offensively.
Set three saw both teams going back and forth, with both holding slight leads early on. Winona State was the first team to ten but led by just one as the intensity continued to grow on both sides of the net. A big solo block by Goar and a service ace from
Alex Duxbury put Winona State up 15-12, forcing a UMD timeout. Back-to-back set errors by the Bulldogs gave the Warriors an 18-14 lead. Minnesota Duluth called timeout number two in the set after a
Sophie Wilker solo block and a
Jamie Cairncross ace. The Warriors weren't fazed and took the third set 25-19.
Three Warriors were already in double figures attacking after the third set. Goar led with 13 followed by Fruechte with 11 and Wrage with ten. The Warriors had three blocks in the third set as they continued to put pressure on UMD at the net.
Winona State used the momentum from the second set to take an early lead in the fourth set. The lead grew to five at 12-7, following a kill from Wilker. The lead grew to six at 18-12 forcing a Bulldog timeout. Minnesota Duluth would not go down quietly, going on a 5-1, trimming their deficit to two at 19-17. The Warriors roared out of their timeout scoring the sets next four points to grab a 23-17 lead. UMD responded again, clawing their way back within two at 23-21 and forcing a WSU timeout. The Warriors would hold on after the timeout winning the set and match on a kill from Wrage.
QUICK HITS:
The Warriors defense held Minnesota Duluth to just .098 attacking in the final three sets.
Goar finished with a match high 18 kills to lead all players.
Fruechte and Wrage each finished with 13 kills.
Larsen had 57 assists, tying her season and career high.
Rampart had ten kills and 22 digs, one of three Warriors to have a double-double.
Goar earned her double-double with 13 digs.
Fruechte also had a double-double, contributing 11 digs.
Jamie Cairncross had 23 digs to lead the Warriors defensively.
The Warriors finished with 83 digs and nine blocks defensively.
Tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. the Warriors will take on the winner of Concordia-St. Paul and Southern Nazarene in the Central Region Tournament semifinals.
