Picture by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State College libero McKenzie Tolk (11) places up a serve throughout the third set of a Northern Solar Intercollegiate Convention match towards Minot State College on Saturday in Marshall.
MARSHALL — McKenzie Tolk, Karli Arkell and Kenna Bixby performed their remaining dwelling recreation as members of the Southwest Minnesota State College volleyball crew on Saturday when the Mustangs hosted Minot State for Dad and mom Day. The trio of seniors ended their profession within the PE Health club on a excessive observe, choosing up a 25-20, 25-12, 25-9 sweep of the Beavers in Northern Solar Intercollegiate Convention play.
“It’s positively been numerous feelings this week, simply reflecting on all my time taking part in within the PE Health club, but it surely was an awesome trip,” Arkell stated. “I’m actually glad that my teammates supported me right through. We had nice help from our teaching employees, group, different student-athletes, so it’s positively a little bit of an emotional week, but additionally tremendous grateful for my time right here.”
“It’s been such an honor to play on this fitness center and in entrance of this group,” Tolk stated. “We all the time have such nice help from the group, so it’s simply very unhappy to be carried out taking part in within the PE however so grateful to play in entrance of this group.”
The Mustangs shut out their common season at 21-6 general and 14-6 in convention play. SMSU certified for the NSIC event because the No. 6 seed and must go on the street for his or her first-round matchup tonight, heading to St. Cloud State College to tackle the No. 3 Huskies.
“That is probably the most enjoyable a part of the yr. We’ve an awesome alternative to get to play within the convention event, they usually don’t let everyone in,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy stated. “There are going to be a few groups that aren’t in which are powerful and their seasons are carried out immediately. It stinks that we’re not capable of play at dwelling anymore, however we’re nonetheless attending to play volleyball at this level of the yr and that’s enjoyable for us, whether or not we’re dwelling or away.”
Tolk completed her remaining match in Marshall with 10 digs, trailing solely Paige Steinmetz’s 11, whereas Arkell completed with a pair of block assists, trailing solely Natalie Pilney’s 5 block assists and Steinmetz’s solo block with a pair of block assists. She additionally had three kills.
SMSU struggled to seek out its footing early on because the Beavers stayed aggressive within the first set. Minot State led as late as 12-11 earlier than a pair of kills from Ashley Peltier and one other from Steinmetz gave SMSU the lead for good.
Holding a 16-15 lead, SMSU continued to surge forward on a 4-0 run behind kills from Ashlynn Schroeder, Arkell and Steinmetz. SMSU maintained a gradual cushion till, after a pair of factors for the Beavers, Minot State’s Jaina Macaulay dedicated a service error to clinch SMSU’s 25-20 win.
Peltier completed with a match-leading 12 kills on a .550 hitting proportion, whereas Leah Jones added one other eight and Pilney and Steinmetz every contributed seven. Setter Sydney Thein completed with 34 error-free set assists.
Jones was additionally an enormous a part of SMSU’s service success, logging 4 aces within the match whereas Steinmetz added one other pair.
After escaping the primary set with a win, SMSU received off to a robust begin within the second. Ashley Peltier and Paige Steinmetz every got here up with a kill and Pilney added one other two. Katelyn Onespot-Danforth interrupted the Mustang run earlier than a Peltier kill, a Pilney service ace and a Steinmetz ace block helped SMSU as much as an 8-1 lead.
“I assumed we simply cranked it up defensively and we served just a little bit harder,” Boddy stated of his crew’s second-set resurgence. “We blocked higher, we had children taking part in balls exterior of their area… simply much less balls hitting the ground… We talked about that. We thought we may play higher after recreation 1, and we knew that, so we did a very good job of cranking that up.”
The Beavers by no means recovered as SMSU’s lead steadily grew all through the match. Minot State began to match the Mustangs’ factors as soon as the deficit reached 20-7, however Josie Pundt ended the sport with a kill for a 25-12 win.
Onespot-Danforth got here up with a kill to start out the third set, however a pair of service aces from Jones and a pair of kills from Peltier helped SMSU reply with a 6-1 run.
Minot State trimmed the deficit to three factors earlier than a trio of kills from Pilney and a sequence of hitting errors by the Beavers gave the Mustangs 7 unanswered factors for a 14-4 lead.
SMSU’s lead hovered round 10 factors till it went for the kill down the ultimate stretch. SMSU claimed 7 of the match’s remaining 8 factors, together with a pair of kills from Pundt, a kill and a block from Peltier and an ace from Tolk, to finish the ultimate dwelling match of the season with a 25-9 win.
SMSU hit .345 as a crew within the match whereas limiting Minot to a .023 hitting proportion. Kennedy Drake and Jones contributed to the crew’s defensive success with eight and 7 digs, respectively.
Mya Vibeto led the Beavers in digs with 12 whereas Onespot-Danforth had a team-leading six kills on a .050 hitting proportion. Macauley logged 9 set assists whereas Mia Thompson logged 4 block assists.
Mustang milestones
After the match, SMSU acknowledged Leah Jones for being the 18th Mustang to achieve 1,000 kills and Sydney Thein for being the eleventh Mustang to achieve 2,000 set assists this season.
Jones, a junior, now sits sixteenth on the all-time kills leaderboard for SMSU with 1,048 whereas Thein, a sophomore, ranks ninth in set assists with 2,477.
Throughout her three years as a Mustang, Jones has grown into an elite offensive menace, Boddy stated, noting her regional Freshman of the Yr and All-Convention accolades throughout her time with the Mustangs. He added that Thein has carried out a very good job of trusting Jones and the entire different hitters on the crew, and that capability to distribute the ball evenly has helped each of the 2 Mustangs to seek out success.
Hometown heroes
Tolk and Arkell each grew up in southwest Minnesota earlier than beginning their collegiate profession with the Mustangs.
Tolk was an All-State volleyball participant and a two-time state champion with the Minneota Vikings in her highschool days, whereas Arkell was an All-State participant for Crimson Rock Central.
Up subsequent
SMSU heads as much as Halenbeck Corridor in St. Cloud for the NSIC quarterfinals tonight at 6 p.m., with the winner of immediately’s recreation taking up both Wayne State or Northern State in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“I really feel like in earlier years, we’ve form of simply stayed the identical on the finish of the yr. This yr, we’re actually specializing in getting higher towards the top of the yr in order that we are able to go into convention simply taking part in our greatest volleyball after which attempting to make a run for it on the finish of the yr,” Tolk stated.
SMSU entered the yr ranked third within the NSIC preseason coaches ballot, trailing solely St. Cloud State and Concordia-St. Paul after receiving 4 first-place votes. Whereas the Mustangs have fallen behind the preseason expectations, they know upsets occur within the postseason. The Mustangs misplaced within the first spherical of the 2023 NSIC event to No. 6 Duluth because the third seed, and fell to No. 5 Northern State within the first spherical of final yr’s event because the No. 4 seed.
“We knew whether or not we have been the 1 seed or the 8 seed, we have been going to play someone actually powerful in our league. Now we’ve simply received to have the ability to do it on the street,” Boddy stated.
SMSU enters the match ranked No. 13 within the Division II coaches ballot, up one spot from final week, and can look to earn its approach to its third consecutive NCAA event. The Mustangs are presently on the skin wanting in of the Central Area prime 10, with three convention champions and 5 at-large bids making the reduce for the NCAA event.
“Our convention is a troublesome convention to play in, so there are going to be these ups and downs, however I believe we are able to work via these and be taught from our losses or be taught from a good win,” Arkell added. “That’s one thing we’ve gotten actually good at. We’ve a aim to win the convention event, make it to the regional and go so far as we are able to. I imply, it’s a troublesome convention to do it in, however we’re taking part in our greatest volleyball proper now.”
