Winona State saw a massive crowd of 587 pile into McCown Gymnasium on Oct. 25 to watch as the Women’s Volleyball team took on the University of Minnesota Duluth in their 14th Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match.
One of the largest crowds the team has seen buzzed with excitement as the game kicked into gear with a solid start from the Warriors who would quickly push the score to 4-1 after a couple of hard-hitting service aces from Jaci Winchell and Kenna Kornely.
Winona State would maintain their lead against Duluth with help of Kornely and Lydia Lange, snagging the win for the first set at 25-18, igniting the crowd and setting the intensity for the rest of the match.
“The energy was great. This was my first game here on campus, so I was skeptical,” said a first-year student. “But the student section was so fun, all of the students were decked out, some even had volleyballs on their heads.”
Unfortunately, while the energy remained high both on the court and in the stands, the Warriors were unable to maintain their winning streak against the Bulldogs, who came back with intensity.
The second set was close, only a small advantage in favor of Duluth until Jayda Berg began
a streak of points to push the Warriors into the lead once more. Still, the Bulldogs would come back with vigor to take the second set as their own at 25-21.
The third and fourth sets began and ended the same; close scores, a narrow lead followed by a quick comeback for the opposing team, resulting in Minnesota Duluth’s win with three sets under
their belt.
Winona State’s two-match streak earned on the road was unfortunately cut short by the Bulldogs, but with little time to stew in the loss, they were back in their gym on Oct. 28 to face St. Cloud State University.
With another great crowd and an appearance from the Winona State band, the girls moved onto their next game with determination.
The first set had a hot start with a Warrior lead of 6-1, aided by Gianna Vollrath, but their efforts were stalled when St. Cloud State made their way up the scoreboard, eventually moving into the lead and then taking the win at 25-22.
Winona State made up for this loss with a win of their own in the second set, achieving a quick lead because of excellent performances from Rylee Vaughn and Taylor Pagel. Kornely and Jaci Winchell would work together to snag the final point and leave the score at 25-17.
The third set would result in another win for the Huskies despite last-ditch efforts from Jayda Berg, Kornely and Lange.
Though, the fourth would fall back into the grasp of the Warriors.
With a renewed energy running through the crowd, the team embraced their communities support, heading into the set with new motivation, and in typical Warrior fashion, stole the win of the fourth right out from under the Huskies noses at 25-22.
“We are really just playing our game and focusing on our own side of the net, no matter who the opponent is,” Berg, a first-year right side said. “We have practiced every day like we are playing in a game, with grit, focus and determination to win.”
Despite this solid application of skills, Winona State was unable to prevent St. Cloud State from success in the fifth set, resulting in their overall win of 3-2 for the game.
These unfortunate losses move Winona State to 16-7 overall, and 8-6 in the NSIC. They will move into their next set of NSIC matches over the weekend, keeping their feet on home turf to face off against Minnesota State University Moorhead on Nov. 3 and Northern State University on Nov 4.
