Dallas Baptist rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to outlast #2 Wayne State College Saturday afternoon at the Colorado Premier Volleyball Challenge in Denver, Colorado. Scores of the match were 26-24, 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11. Both teams are now 5-2 following the contest.
The opening set saw the Wildcats lead in the early part of the set at 5-1 and 12-9. But the Patriots scored six straight points to take the momentum and the lead for good at 15-12. Dallas Baptist increased the lead to 22-17, but WSC made a rally and closed within 23-22 and used a pair of Patriot errors to even the score at 24-24. However, DBU used a kill and block to clinch the opening set 26-24.
Brooklyn Kusler had six kills on 10 attacks to lead the ‘Cats in the opening set to go with a service ace while Taya Beller accounted for four kills.
WSC built an early lead in the second set, then held off a Dallas Baptist rally to secure a 25-20 set win. The ‘Cats were up 11-5 and eventually led 17-9, but the Patriots scored five straight points to cut the Wildcat advantage to 17-14. Out of the timeout, the ‘Cats used a DBU service error and attack error to go back up five and the ‘Cats closed the set with a 25-20 set victory.
Kusler and Maggie Brahmer each had four kills to lead the ‘Cats in the second set. WSC forced seven Dallas Baptist attack errors in the set while also recording three service aces.
The third set saw WSC build a 12-7 lead near the midway point of the set, then hold back several Dallas Baptist rallies for a 25-23 third set win. The ‘Cats held leads of 19-15 and 21-17, then saw the Patriots tie the score at 22-22 and 23-23. A kill by Brahmer and a bad set by Dallas Baptist gave WSC the final two points for a 25-23 set win.
Wayne State held the lead early in the fourth set at 11-7, but DBU scored six of the next seven points to take a 13-12 lead forcing a WSC timeout. Tied at 14-14, four straight points were scored by Dallas Baptist to take the lead for good at 18-14 and the Patriots finished with a 25-20 set win to force a fifth set.
The final set saw both teams battle back and forth early with six ties and three lead changes, but tied at 8-8 Dallas Baptist scored consecutive points for a 10-8 lead and never trailed again in posting the 15-11 win. Brahmer had four of Wayne State’s 10 kills in the fifth set.
Dallas Baptist outhit WSC in the contest .273-.225, holding a 67-62 edge in kills. The Patriots recorded 13 service aces in the win while the ‘Cats had eight. WSC held a 12-9 advantage in blocks.
Kusler had 19 kills to lead Wayne State in hitting followed by Brahmer’s 17 kills and Beller with 15. Beller had a team-high seven blocks while freshman setter Molly Romano added five to go with 50 set assists and 13 digs. Kusler also had 10 digs for a double-double.
Senior middle hitter Maggie Brahmer hit .857 with 12 kills and no errors on 14 attacks to power #2 Wayne State in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-17 victory over #24 Regis University Saturday evening at the Colorado Premier Volleyball Challenge in Denver, Colorado. WSC is now 6-2 on the season, splitting four matches at the Colorado Premier, while the host Rangers from Regis are now 2-6.
Both teams posted stellar hitting percentages in the opening set as WSC had 14 kills and no errors for a .424 percentage and Regis hit .438 with 19 kills on just 32 attempts. Brahmer was a perfect 6 for 6 on kills in the opening set while Taya Beller had six kills on 10 attacks to lead the Wildcats in the opening set 25-20 win.
The second set saw the Wildcats take an early 12-6 lead, but Regis battled back and knotted the score at 15-15. A Brahmer kill and block by Brahmer and Taylor Bunjer along with a Regis service error put the ‘Cats in front 20-17. After Regis tied the score at 21-21, WSC scored four of the final five points with a pair of kills and solo block by Beller giving WSC the 25-22 set win.
Beller ended with six kills in the set along with a pair of blocks.
WSC never trailed in the third set as 14 Wildcats saw playing time in a 25-17 win to complete the sweep. The ‘Cats forced Regis into nine attack errors (four blocks) while WSC hit .333 in the final set. Channatee Robles had four kills with Brooklyn Kusler and Brahmer each adding three.
Wayne State finished the match with a .327 hitting percentage on 44 kills while the Rangers hit .237 with an identical 44 kills. The ‘Cats held a 41-36 edge in digs and 3-1 in service aces while both clubs had eight blocks.
Beller had 14 kills with Brahmer adding 12 on an impressive .857 hitting percentage for WSC. Senior libero Brooke Peltz had 10 digs while freshman setter Molly Romano accounted for 33 set assists.
Wayne State opens Northern Sun Conference play on the road Friday evening playing at MSU Moorhead in a 6 p.m. contest.
