Reid Peters/Winonan

The No. 25 Winona State University volleyball team finished off the regular season last weekend by defeating No. 20 Augustana University and No. 4 Wayne State University. This was the first week in which the Warriors consecutively defeated two ranked teams.

On Friday, Winona State swept No. 20 Augustana 3-0 in Winona.

Taylor Goar led all players with a hitting percentage of .286 while adding 14 kills. Maria Fruechte posted a double-double which included 12 kills and 13 digs with a .320 hitting percentage.

McKenna Larsen led the way in the assist department, collecting a match-high 35 to go along with her seven kills and nine digs to hit .545, while Jamie Cairncross chipped in a match-high 18 digs.

After Augustana jumped out to a 7-6 lead to begin the first set, the Warriors put together a 5-1 run to take an 11-8 lead, which was followed a 6-0 Warrior run to give them an 18-10 advantage. Winona State eventually captured a 25-16 win and took a 1-0 lead in the match.

Four Viking errors helped the Warriors get off to an early 9-3 lead in the second set. The Warriors used a run to push their lead 17-10 after a Larsen ace, eventually claiming the set 25-15.

Augustana hit .079 and .065 through the first two sets while Winona hit .394 and .265.

The Vikings raced out in the third set with a 10-2 lead. The lead climbed to 14-6 before the Warriors strung together five straight points to bring the score 14-11. Back-to-back kills from Lauren Kudronowicz evened the score. Winona State claimed its first lead of the set 23-22 after a Larsen ace. Ensuing kills from Larsen and Goar finished off the comeback and sealed the match with a 25-23 win.

The Warriors then squared off against No. 4 Wayne State at home on Saturday afternoon, coming away with a five-set victory.

After dropping the first set 25-18, the Warriors came back to win a back-and-forth second set 30-28. In the second set, neither team held more than a 2-point advantage. The Wildcats fought off three match points before Maria Wrage put the set away with a kill.

The two teams continued its close play during the third set. The Warriors began the set with a 12-8 lead only to be increased to 15-9 after a Larsen kill. Winona State went on a quick run and sealed the set with a 25-19 victory.

The Warriors were hanging on to a 20-19 lead in the fourth set, but the Wildcats went on a spurt to take the set 25-22, forcing a fifth and final set.

Winona State had its best performance

of the match, hitting .450 while holding the

Wildcats to .208. A Taylor Goar kill sealed

the 15-11 win for the Warriors.

McKenna Larsen earned her third career triple-double, which included 53 assists.

Goar led the way for the Warriors with a career-high 29 digs while Danielle Rampart had 27, Larsen had 21 and Jamie Cairncross had 20.

Goar had the most kills with 22, which was followed by Maria Fruechte with 12,

Wrage and Larsen with 11 and Lauren

Kudronowicz with 10.

Winona State (18-9, 12-8 NSIC) earned the No. 6 seed in the 2015 NSIC Tournament and will face No. 3 Northern State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D.