INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Seeking a sweep on the opening day at the University of Indianapolis Invitational, (RV) Winona State University saw its 2-1 match lead dissipate against No. 17 Colorado School of Mines as the Warriors ultimately fell in five sets to the Orediggers. Colorado Mines claimed the final two sets for a 25-22, 21-25, 12-25, 25-19, 15-5 win over WSU.
The Warriors began the day with a 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23 win over the tournament host Greyhounds.
In the morning match against Indianapolis, Winona State registered season highs in aces (9) and blocks (12). Megan Flom continued her upstart sophomore campaign with seven blocks and 10 kills in the victory. Senior Sophie matched her effort with a career-best seven blocks.
The Warriors never trailed in their set one and three wins, but had to rally to put away the Greyhounds in the fourth set. A kill by Madison Rizner staked WSU to a comfortable 21-16 lead in the decisive game before the home team went on a run. Indianapolis proceeded to rattle off five straight points to knot the score before a Greyhound attacking error gave Winona State a 22-21 edge.
The teams then traded service errors with the Warriors prevailing on kills by Paige Christopher and Flom.
After a strong showing against the Greyhounds, Winona State looked to knock off the nationally-ranked Orediggers. A kill by Flom capped a three-point run in the opening set to give WSU a 19-18 lead, but Colorado Mines would rally for the 25-22 set win.
The Warriors flipped the script in set two with a tight 25-21 win and proceeded to dominate the Orediggers in the third game. With Casey Volkmann at the service line, Winona State raced out to a 7-0 lead. Wilker and Cori Meyers floored two kills apiece during the run. Leading by nine points late, the Warriors strung together an 8-1 stretch to the finish line with Taylor Goar drilling the game-winning point.
A back-and-forth contest followed in the fourth set with WSU seeking their second triumph of the day. A block by Christopher gave the Warriors a 14-13 edge in front of a 7-1 run by the Orediggers, and Colorado Mines held on for the win to push the final game.
Playing in their first five-set match of the season, the Warriors appeared to run out of gas late. The Orediggers surged to an 8-1 lead and never looked back in the come-from-behind win.
Flom (18) and Meyers (10) each recorded career highs in kills in the loss. Meyers tallied the first double-double of her freshman campaign with 12 digs.
Becca Pagel collected 32 digs over Friday's matches and Bre Maloney totaled 74 assists and four service aces.
Winona State (2-4) concludes the weekend with two more matches in Indianapolis on Saturday. First up is No. 12 Wheeling Jesuit at 9 a.m. followed by a matchup with Harding University at 3 p.m.
