No. 2 Wildcats reverse sweep No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul in NSIC showdown
No. 2 Wayne State rallied from a two-set deficit to outlast No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul in a top-five Northern Sun Conference volleyball showdown Saturday afternoon at Rice Arena in Wayne, as the Wildcats prevailed 25-27, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21 and 15-12. The Wildcats move to 12-1 and 4-0 in the league while the Golden Bears are now 8-3 and 3-1 in NSIC play.
The first set showcased 12 ties and three lead changes between the two clubs, but visiting Concordia-St. Paul prevailed by a 27-25 score.
Senior middle hitter Mia Berg had six kills in the opening set to lead the Wildcats to go with a pair of blocks.
The Golden Bears forced seven Wildcat errors in the second set – three on blocks – as CSP took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 set win.
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Channatee Robles and Berg each had four kills to lead WSC in the set.
Wayne State began its rally in the third set, battling CSP with 11 ties and four lead changes, before picking up a 25-22 set victory. The Wildcats held a pair of four-point leads in the set at 20-16 and 22-18, but CSP pulled within one at 23-22. WSC used a CSP attack error and a Delaney Miller kill to close the set for the 25-22 win.
Robles produced eight kills in the third set while Miller and Chloe Hanel each had three as the Wildcats hit a match-best .318 in the set with 17 kills and just three errors.
The fourth set saw a Wildcat surge late to take control as WSC forced a fifth set with a 25-21 win.
Following a WSC timeout with the Wildcats in front 21-19, Wayne State scored the next three points on a pair of Hanel kills and a solo block from Hanel to go ahead 24-19, and the Wildcats closed the set with a 25-21 win.
Hanel had six kills and two blocks in the fourth set, followed by Miller and Berg with three apiece.
Wayne State trailed just once in the fifth and decisive set at 5-4. With the score tied at 10-10, the Wildcats used a kill from Robles and Hanel followed by a CSP error to take the lead for good at 13-10. Hanel put the finishing touches on the match with a kill, giving Wayne State the reverse sweep and a 15-12 win.
Robles had five kills in the final set to go with seven digs to pace WSC.
Wayne State held a .219-.210 advantage in hitting over Concordia-St. Paul and had one more kill, 67-66. The Golden Bears had 113 digs to 95 for the Wildcats and held a 12-10 edge in blocks. CSP had nine service aces and 15 errors while Wayne State recorded two aces and nine errors.
Robles had a 20-20 double-double with 22 kills and a career-best 23 digs in the win. Berg followed with a season-high 15 kills and six blocks, with Hanel collecting 12 kills and four blocks. Miller ended with 10 kills.
Junior libero Anna Borner recorded 20 digs, with sophomore Mattie Kamery adding 19 and graduate student defensive specialist Reese Johnson posting 12. Junior setter Molly Romano accounted for 51 set assists.
