It took a career-night from senior middle hitter Taya Beller with 28 kills and 10 blocks to lift #6 Wayne State in a hard-fought 25-21, 26-24, 18-25, 29-27 victory at Winona State in Northern Sun Conference volleyball Tuesday evening in Winona, Minnesota. The ‘Cats are now 13-2 and a perfect 7-0 in the NSIC while Winona State slips to 10-8 and 3-4 in the league.
The opening set saw senior middle hitter Taya Beller post seven kills with a .583 hitting percentage and three blocks to lead the ‘Cats in a 25-21 set win.
With the score tied at 10-10 in the opening set, Beller notched consecutive kills putting the ‘Cats in front 12-10 forcing a Winona State timeout.
Later in the set with WSC ahead 16-14, the ‘Cats reeled off five straight points to grab a 21-14 lead. Kills by Beller and Brooklyn Kusler, a solo block from Beller, a ball handling error by the Warriors and another kill from Beller fueled the scoring run.
Winona State closed within three at 21-18, but Wayne State closed with a 25-21 opening set win. WSC had six blocks in the first set and posted a .333 hitting percentage with 15 kills and just two attack errors.
Wayne State had to hold off numerous Warrior charges in the second set to edge Winona State 26-24. After the ‘Cats held an 18-14 lead, Winona State battled back and knotted the set at 23-23. Tied at 24-24, WSC got a Beller kill and Warrior attack error to win the set 26-24.
Beller had nine kills in the set for WSC as the ‘Cats forced 11 Warrior attack errors.
The third set saw the host Warriors use an aggressive serve with five aces to gain momentum and capture the set 25-18 to force a fourth set.
The fourth set saw the Wildcats appear to have the set locked up after scoring 10 straight points to build an 18-10 lead, but the Warriors stormed back to even the score at 23-23 and actually had set point at 26-25 before WSC rallied for a grueling 29-27 fourth set win.
Beller’s 28th kill of the match tied the score at 26-26. A Channatee Robles kill for WSC gave the ‘Cats match point at 27-26. Following a Winona State kill to even the score at 27-27, Robles closed the match with consecutive kills for a wild 29-27 fourth set win.
Robles and Beller each had seven kills in the decisive fourth set while freshman setter Molly Romano had 14 assists and two solo blocks.
For the match, Wayne State outhit Winona State .222-.172. The Warriors held a 66-55 advantage in kills, but the Wildcats notched a season-high 17 blocks and forced the Warriors into 31 attack errors.
Beller produced a career-high 28 kills on a .418 hitting percentage and matched her career-high with 10 blocks to lead WSC in the win. Robles also hit double figures in kills with 11.
Senior libero Brooke Peltz accounted for 33 digs, a career-best, followed by Romano with 14 digs and 41 set assists. Jordie Nekl added 13 digs and two service aces.
The Wildcats return home this weekend playing matches in Rice Auditorium Friday evening at 6 p.m. against #20 Minnesota Duluth and Saturday at 1 p.m. hosting #5 St. Cloud State.
