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The Warriors played a near-flawless match against yet another nationally ranked conference opponent but were left wondering what could have been after the Mustangs escaped with a 21-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10 victory Tuesday at McCown Gymnasium.
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Winona State's Carmen Stankowski bumps the ball off a set Tuesday during the Warrior's NSIC match against Southwest Minnesota State at McCown Gymnasium. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
“We just had a couple breakdowns that were really crucial and obviously affected the game,” WSU junior Carmen Stankowski said. “We have a lot to learn, but we know we can play with anybody in the country. We just have to learn from it, I guess.”
If there was a momentum swing to point to, Game 2 proved especially costly in the Warriors’ third match of its past four against a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent ranked in the top 25 nationally.
With WSU well on its way to a 2-0 advantage, leading a reeling Mustangs team 23-13 in Game 2, the Mustangs rallied for 12 consecutive points to even the match, 1-1.
The Warriors bounced back for a decisive 25-17 win in Game 3, but with injuries across the Warriors’ lineup, the No. 7 Mustangs were too strong and deep to keep up with for five games.
“We need to take care of business and when something presents itself, we need to jump on it and take advantage of it,” WSU coach Connie Mettille said. “And we didn’t do that tonight. Hats off to Southwest, they’re a good ball club, they’re No. 7 in the nation for a reason. But we had them tonight and we let this one slip away.”
The Warriors held leads in each game except the deciding fifth, when the Mustangs jumped to a 5-0 advantage and never led by less than four from there.
“It’s tough,” Stankowski said. “Everyone came into this gym thinking we could do it. Just to go down like that, it’s tough.”
The Warriors (5-10, 3-3) have won four of their past seven, the three losses coming to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul,
No. 13 UM-Duluth and No. 7 SMSU. The Mustangs (16-2,
5-1) won their third in a row after a defeat at C-SP.
“We’re 3-3 in the NSIC, the toughest volleyball conference in Division II,” Mettille said. “We just played No. 7 incredibly tough. I’m very proud of what the kids did; I’m proud of how we played. We just need to focus on making sure we can step forward from here.”
Stankowski led the Warriors with 18 kills to go with 16 digs and three blocks.
Junior Jenna Padley and freshman Jessi Peterson each had 11 kills, senior Rudi Balich had nine kills and 12 digs and sophomore Mollie Bjelland had match-highs with 40 assists and 23 digs for the Warriors.
SMSU senior Laura Hegerle led all players with
19 kills.
