Reid Peters/Winonan
The No. 24 Winona State University volleyball team went 1-1 on the road this week, losing to No. 9 University of Minnesota Duluth before defeating St. Cloud State.
The Warriors improved their conference record to 9-7 after moving up one spot in the national rankings.
The Warriors fell to Minnesota Duluth 3-0 Friday night, ending a 5-game winning streak for Winona State.
Winona State jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the opening set, but a 10-1 Bulldog run put Minnesota Duluth in front, 16-12, which led to a 25-17 win for Duluth.
The second set began with another 11-6 lead for the Warriors. First-year Maria Wrage had a kill that put the Winona State up 20-17, but Duluth came back with an 8-2 spurt. The Bulldogs took the second set 25-22 while hitting its lowest percentage of the match at .333. The Warriors hit a match-best .273 in the set.
Duluth claimed a 25-16 third set win, a set in which Winona hit .000.
“As a team, I think we have gotten to the point where the changes that we need to make are small, but difficult,” sophomore Taylor Goar said. “I think once we figure out those little things we will be competing for the number one spot.”
Wrage and Goar each recorded six kills while Wrage led the team with a .500 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Danielle Rampart led the team in kills and digs with eight and 10, respectively, while posting a hitting percentage of .304.
The Warriors swept Sunday afternoon’s match 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-11) in St. Cloud.
Leading the group in kills was sophomore Maria Fruechte and Taylor Goar with eight apiece while Maria Wrage and sophomore McKenna Larsen collected seven of their own. Larsen had a hitting percentage of .429 with 16 digs and a match-high 28 assists.
In the first set, neither team held more than a two-point lead until Winona State went on a 4-0 run. A Fruechte kill ended the set and gave the Warriors a 25-20 win.
Winona State began the second set with a 4-0 lead, which was followed with a 7-2 run to give the Warriors a 17-10 lead. An additional 5-0 spurt secured a 25-14 win for the Warriors. The Huskies collected more errors than kills, 8-7, in the second set while Winona hit .225 and tallied 13 kills with four errors.
Statistically, the third set was the Huskies’ worst performance of the match. They collected five kills and nine errors. The Warriors began the set with a 6-1 lead after two straight service aces from Larsen. A 14-4 Winona State run gave the Warriors a 25-11 third set victory as well as a 3-0 match win.
Junior Jamie Carincross added 12 digs while Maria Wrage led the way with five blocks. Sophomore Lauren Kudronowicz and Fruechte had three blocks of their own.
“As we move forward and beat the teams that we need to, our confidence keeps building. That confidence creates a good atmosphere,” Kudronowicz said.
Winona State head coach Joe Getzin said the team has not reached their peak yet.
“I don’t think we’re peaking yet,” said head coach, Joe Getzin. “This past Friday was the first time that we started the same lineup that we started the season with. It’s been a long season with injuries, but we’re starting to mesh together.”
No. 24 Winona State (15-8, 9-7 NSIC) continues its road trip this week with matches at No. 4 Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
