WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University women's volleyball team faced off against #11 Minnesota Duluth at home to kick off 2024 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. The Warriors battled all five sets behind a loud crowd inside McCown Gymnasium, securing the victory 3-2 behind strong performances by senior
Kylie Welch with 43 digs defensively and on the offensive side graduate student
Sidney Paulson would lead the way with 13 kills.
Set one:
The Warriors got off to a hot start leading 15-8 before a Bulldog timeout. UMD would gather after that timeout and retake the lead 22-19 with a service ace by Maddi Kealy. WSU saw themselves band together and finish out set one with five unanswered points finishing with a service ace by
Sidney Paulson, taking set one 25-23.
Set two:
Set two began right where we left off, both teams battling back and forth before a UMD timeout at 15-11 (UMD). The Warriors would battle late with three straight points, with kills from
Gianna Vollrath and
Kenna Kornely at 19-24, but the Winona State would eventually fall short, 25-19.
Set three:
UMD saw an early lead of 4-0 before a kill by
Sidney Paulson would put WSU on the board. The Bulldogs didn't let off the gas and took a 19-12 lead going into a Warrior timeout. WSU would eventually drop set three 25-18.
Set four:
Battling neck and neck the Bulldogs and Warriors didn't see a lead of more than a single point until the Warriors would score three straight ending with a block by
Gianna Vollrath and
Jayda Berg. WSU would reel off four straight points to take a 23-16 lead and sophomore
Jayda Berg would end the game with two straight kills in the fourth frame, winning the set 25-17.
Set five:
Going into the final frame a kill by graduate student
Lydia Lange would give the Warriors a 4-1 lead and no team would give up more than two points in a row before WSU eventually taking the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Winona State (7-3 1-0 NSIC) are next in action on Saturday, September 21 at 11am where they face off against Northwest Missouri State (4-4, 0-0 MIAA) in Fayette, Iowa.
