St. PAUL, Minn. - The Winona State University volleyball team, ranked #9 in the current American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, beat #4 Concordia, St. Paul 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-18) on the road Tuesday, Oct. 5.
The Warriors - who have won seven straight matches - were led by NSIC Preseason Player of the Year
Megan Flom who hit .486 in the contest against the Golden Bears. Flom racked up 21 kills in the match, which was the first Warrior contest that went to four sets or longer since Sept. 11 when they defeated the University of Indianapolis, 3-1.
In Tuesday's non-conference affair, #9 Winona State set the tone early, taking the opening set 25-22, with the difference in the frame being three services aces for the Warriors, compared to zero for CSP. The Golden Bears took set two by the same margin, 22-25, but Winona State quickly reset for the final two frames.
WSU won the third set 25-18 behind a .286 team hitting percentage and registering two timely blocks along the way. Set four was almost a carbon copy of the third frame, with WSU hitting .289 as a team, logging two blocks while committing only three errors.
Individually, Flom's fantastic night was supported by a tremendous passing effort by
Bre Maloney, who racked up a 43-assist evening, while also collecting 18 digs.
Maloney's 43 helpers were just shy of her season best 47 logged at UIndy earlier this year.
Madison Larson also reached double digits in kills with ten while also picking up three blocks on the night, tying
Madison Rizner for the team lead in that category. Rizner also had five kills while her .250 hitting mark was second for the Warriors behind Flom's .486.
Becca Pagel had 16 digs on the night andWarrior teammate
Rylee Vaughn had 13.
The last time Concordia - St. Paul lost on their home court was Nov. 12, 2019, when they fell to a nationally-ranked Wayne State College team. For Winona State, Tuesday night's victory of CSP was the first Warrior win in the Gangelhoff Center in the
Joe Getzin-era. It is the ninth Warrior win over CSP since the inaugural match in the series played on Oct. 31, 1975.
For #9 Winona State, the win over the #4 Golden Bears is a key catalyst into a busy weekend where the Warriors will face the University of Minnesota Duluth this Friday After taking on the Bulldogs Friday evening at 7pm to kick off WSU's homecoming, Winona State will host St. Cloud State on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 5pm.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
