John DiSalle / Winonan

The No. 9 Winona State University volleyball team won their home opener Thursday night against Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The Warrior volleyball team opened up their first NSIC match of the season in Talbot Gymnasium, down the hall from their original home of McCown Gymnasium. Since McCown is under renovations and is scheduled to be ready just in time for basketball season, the team will be playing in Talbot the rest of the season.

Fans filled the Warrior’s temporary home to watch their team shut out the Minnesota State, Mankato Mavericks.

Winona won in straight sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-13) to start off their conference schedule.

The Warriors began their first set with a 16-4 lead. They kept the momentum going, winning 25-14. Mankato played the opposite role, and the Warriors held the Mavericks to a -.071 hitting percentage.

In the second set, the Mavericks kept it a lot closer, but the Warriors were still able to come out on top 25-20. The Warriors had their best set of the night with 17 kills and a .351 attack.

A quick 7-0 start in the third set kept the momentum going for the Warriors, as they were able to finish off the Mavericks 25-13 in the third set. Lauren Kudronowicz had five kills, while Taylor Goar had six in the final set.

Senior libero Jamie Cairncross said, “Mankato has been a big competitor with us for the past few years, so it’s nice to know we can beat them in three [sets].”

The Warriors outhit the Mavericks .340 to .054 for the match. A big part of that high percentage were Kudronowicz who hit .846, and Danielle Rampart who hit .333

Kudronowicz finished with 11 kills and tallied three aces on her well placed serve. Goar, who was selected to the 2015 NSIC First Team, finished with 11 kills and led the team in total points with 14 points.

Kudronowicz hit a .846 attack percentage which set a career high helping the Warriors jump to a 1-0 NSIC conference record.

The Warriors will not meet the Mavericks again during conference play.

While the Warriors tallied a big win to start off conference play, there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot to prepare for, according to head coach Joe Getzin.

“We didn’t serve very well tonight, that’s always an ongoing thing, you want to make sure you’re serving well. We’ve got little things we have to clean up along the way. There is always something to work on,” Getzin said.

On Saturday night, the Winona State Warriors volleyball team traveled to St. Paul to take on No.1 ranked Concordia University, St. Paul.

The Warriors’ hitting did not bode well while they were on the road, as they hit .075 from the court. Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears beat the Warriors in all three sets (25-17, 25-21, 25-9).

Concordia out hit .400 from the court all game and racked up 42 kills. The Warriors also had 31 kills and 23 errors.

The Warriors are not scheduled to play the top-ranked Golden Bears again during conference play, but could see them in the NSIC Tournament.

The Winona State volleyball team will be playing away against St. Cloud State University on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. against the University.

-By John DiSalle