John DiSalle / Winonan

Winona State University claimed victories over Upper Iowa University on Tuesday, Sept. 20 and St. Cloud State University on Friday, Sept. 23. The Warriors lost to the University of Minnsota Duluth the following day.

The Warriors prevailed with a 3-1 victory (25-23, 20-25, 25-19 and 25-21) despite hitting their second lowest hitting percentage of the season.

Winona State hit a .091 hitting percentage against Upper Iowa’s .067 hitting percentage. Winona State also had 52 kills compared to Upper Iowa’s 42 kills.

The Warriors led the way with 50 assists compared to their opponents’ 39 assists.

Winona State head coach Joe Getzin said, “We had some players come off the bench that had a great performance for us that got us through a rough road trip. Sophie Wilker and Jordan Runge had a great match for us.”

Junior Taylor Goar led the team once again with 15 kills. Sophomore Maria Wrage followed with 11 kills. Wilker led the team with a .538 hitting percentage, Runge had a .286 hit percentage and Wrage posted a .250 percentage.

Goar, a 2015 NSIC First Selection, leads the team in kills with 162. She is averaging 3.86 kills per set, which also leads the team, and is tied for a team high service aces with 15.

“(Goar) has consistency that we tend to rely on. She is our go to player that we will continue to rely on,” Getzin added.

Winona State will meet Upper Iowa again on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in Winona at 7 p.m.

The Warriors traveled to St. Cloud, Minn. on Friday, Sept. 23 to take on St. Cloud State. They were able to come away with a 3-0 sweep over the Huskies 25-13, 25-13, 25-17.

The Warriors led the way with a .292 attack percentage over St. Cloud’s .018 percentage and doubled the Huskies kills with 44 to 22.

Goar led Winona State with 14 kills, followed by junior Lauren Kudronowicz with 10. However, Kudronowicz led the team with a .429 percentage, followed by Goar with a .364 attack percentage.

Winona State will see St. Cloud State again later in the season on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in Talbot Gymnasium in Winona.

After their trip to Iowa, the Warriors traveled to the north woods to take on the No. 2 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth, Bulldogs. This is the second straight weekend the Warriors have had to take on a top five ranked team.

The No.9 ranked Winona State Warriors fell to the Bulldogs in four sets 26-24, 20-25, 17-25, 20-25.

During the first set, the Bulldogs led the Warriors 24-22. After a timeout by Getzin, the Warriors scored four straight points to take the set.

In the second set, the competition was very close until the score was tied at 17. The Bulldogs scored three straight points and eventually went on to take the, set 25-20.

The Bulldog’s momentum carried over to the third set as they took a demanding 16-8 lead. The Warriors then scored three straight points, which led to a timeout by Duluth. After the timeout, the Bulldogs closed out the set with a 25-17 set victory.

Despite being down 1-2 in the match, the Warriors started out the fourth set with an 8-4 lead, but the Bulldogs responded with a six point run to take the lead 11-9. Duluth went on to win the match with a fourth set victory, 25-20.

The Bulldogs hit a .313 attack percentage compared to the Warriors .180 percentage. The Bulldogs also led the box score with 63 kills compared to Winona State’s 56 kills.

“Going on the road is a little more difficult than playing in front of your home fans. We need to relax a little bit and do what we do best. We play our best when we are consistent,” Getzin said.

Winona State will meet the Bulldogs again on Senior Day, Saturday, Nov. 12 in Talbot Gymnasium.

Winona State volleyball’ record overall is 12-2, and 3-2 in NSIC.

The Warriors will return home this weekend to play against Bemidji State University Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. They will play the followig day against the University of Minnesota Crookston at 4 p.m.

-By John DiSalle