Dillon Hogan/ Winonan
The Winona State University women’s volleyball team used its 3-0 win over St. Cloud State University last week to fuel away games against the University of Minnesota, Crookston and Bemdji State University on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors swept both teams 3-0.
The opening match against Crookston resulted in a Warrior win 25-18.
In the second set the Warriors jumped out to a seven point lead. Crookston was able to make a comeback, but the Warriors stood their ground. A 13-6 run by the Warriors gave them the 25-17 win.
In the third set the warriors were down throughout most of the match. Behind 15-9, Winona State scored the next six points to tie the match, only to have Crookston take the next six points to fall behind again.
Down 25-21, the Warriors scored the next six points to finish off Crookston and get the set win and the sweep.
Freshman Taylor Goar posted 15 kills on 25 attempts and seven digs for the Warriors. Freshman Danielle Rampart had a match-high 16-kill performance with seven digs.
Another high percentage performance came courtesy of Lauren Kudronowicz who recorded six kills on 10 attempts, while McKenna Larsen doled out the match-high 45 assists. Defensively, Jamie Cairncross managed to also have a match-high performance with 20 digs.
In their second match of the weekend the Warriors were pitted against Bemidji State in another road match. The match gave the Warriors another sweep, bringing their season total up to eight.
The first set was a Warrior win by a 25-19 score. Early kills by Rampart gave the Warriors the lead.
During the second set the Warriors played a similarly scoring match to the first set and again came up with the victory. This time, the score was a 25-19 win for the Warriors.
For the third and final set each team hit below .200 percent. With more kills than Bemidji State, the Warriors got the advantage they needed and were able to finish off the sweep with a 25-17 set win.
Rampart was again leader offensively, with 17 kills to lead both squads. Goar also posted 12 kills in the match.
The defense had a trio of players reach double digit digs with Rampart, Larsen and Cairncross recording 12, 11 and 13 respectively. From the serving line the Warriors had Kalyn Biever record two aces to go along with her nine digs.
The Warriors are 13-3 on the season with an 8-2 record in the NSIC, sitting in a three-way tie for third place in the conference.
The next match for the Warriors is against Concordia University on Oct. 14 in St. Paul.
Following this are home matches against the University of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.