Junior middle hitter Chloe Hanel had a match-high 18 kills with four blocks and a .630 hitting percentage to spark No. 2 Wayne State in a 25-17, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22 Northern Sun Conference volleyball victory Saturday morning over Minnesota State at Rice Arena in Wayne. The Wildcats move to 26-2 overall and sport a 17-1 record in the NSIC while the visiting Mavericks drop to 10-16 and 8-10 in the league.
The opening set saw the Wildcats take advantage of seven MSU attack errors and another five service errors to notch a 25-17 win.
Mia Berg and Delaney Miller each had three kills to lead a balanced Wildcat attack in the opening set.
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Minnesota State bounced back in the second set, taking early leads of 9-4 and 12-8 and used five service aces to even the match with a 25-21 set win.
Hanel had six kills on seven attacks to lead WSC in the second set.
The Wildcats rebounded in the third set, posting 18 kills and a .630 attack percentage in cruising past the Mavericks 25-15. Hanel and Miller each produced five kills in the set with Berg adding four.
The final set saw several lead changes (five) to go with 10 ties, but WSC rallied from a 19-15 deficit and scored the final four points of the set for a 25-22 victory.
After WSC took a 12-9 lead near the midway point of the set, MSU roared back and took leads of 17-15 and 19-15, forcing Wildcat timeouts. With MSU leading 20-17, WSC used a pair of blocks, a Maverick attack error and a Hanel kill to tie the score at 21-21.
Following an MSU point for a 22-21 lead, Wayne State used a Maverick service error, a kill by Hanel, a Hanel/Molly Romano block and a Miller kill to score the final four points and grab the 25-22 win.
For the match, Wayne State hit .304 with 59 kills, 17 errors and 138 attacks while Minnesota State hit .147 with 46 kills, 24 errors and 150 attacks. WSC held a 68-54 edge in digs and 11-8 in blocks. The Wildcats had three aces and five service errors while MSU had seven aces and 10 service errors.
Hanel's match-high 18 kills powered WSC. The junior had just one error on 27 attacks and also had four blocks. Miller contributed 13 kills with Berg adding 12 and six blocks.
Fifth-year defensive specialist Reese Johnson accounted for 19 digs followed by junior libero Anna Borner and sophomore hitter Mattie Kamery with 13 apiece. Romano had two of Wayne State's three service aces and handed out 50 set assists in the win.
The Wildcats conclude the NSIC regular season schedule next weekend with a road trip at No. 9 Concordia-St. Paul Friday at 6 p.m. and a Saturday 4 p.m. contest at Winona State.
