The Winona State University volleyball team played against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State at McCown Gymnasium this past Friday and Saturday.  

The first match was on Friday Oct. 14; Winona State hosted Minnesota Crookston at 6 p.m. The Warriors took a clean victory 3-1 that evening by the scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 15-23. 

Their consistent defensive plays and strategic ways of hitting throughout the match helped the Warriors take a clean win over the Golden Eagles.  

On the defensive team, Casey Volkmann led the team’s defense with a total of 19 digs for an average of 6.33 per game. Sidney Paulson and Jaci Winchell added 16 and 12 digs to their stats. While Mikenna Joerger led the team with four blocks, including three solo blocks in the opening set.  

Many of the Warriors on the attack were able to make connections to the ball and get their kills. Sidney Paulson was able to knock down 16 kills to record her ninth double-double of the season. Madison Larson contributed 10 kills and Taylor Pagel efficiently with nine.  

Winona State started the scoring early on by winning the first match’s first six points and soon followed through after taking it to a 25-15 win in the opening set.  

The Warriors easily controlled the second set taking it 2-0 and gathered themselves to close out the third set 25-23.  

“When one of my teammates or myself gets a good kill, it’s a big relief and excitement moment to see everything fall into place and work perfectly,” Lydia Lange said. 

Winona State continued the energy bringing it over to the next day when they hosted Bemidji State. 

The Warriors came in strong, beating Bemidji State 3-1.  

Bemidji State won the first set 25-21, taking a set off Winona State for just the second time since 2014. However, Winona State responded accordingly and won the next three sets 25-12, 25-18, and 25-10 to close out the victory. 

“We play in one of the toughest conferences in Division 2 volleyball so every single game will be tough, and we know that it will be competitive every time we step out onto the court,” Sidney Paulson said.  

This match Madison Larson led by collecting 21 kills. Paulson added 16 kills and collected 10 digs playing well in both sections for Winona State. In addition to the Warriors’ attack was Rylee Vaughn and Kylie Welch, who both came with a pair of service assists, as Vaughn also had 11 digs in the contest.  

As a team, Winona State was able to collect 54 kills and hit .292 in a day. 

The Warriors (11-9, 7-6 NSIC) will head back to road Thursday, Oct. 20 as they travel to Mankato to take on Minnesota State, Mankato. Winona State moved into eighth place in the NSIC standings this past weekend’s results.