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#18 Wayne State 3 #7 Southwest Minnesota State 0

            #18 Wayne State College hit .317 for match with just seven attack errors and forced #7 Southwest Minnesota State into 28 errors as the Wildcats posted a 25-15, 25-21 and 33-31 sweep over the host Mustangs Wednesday evening in the opening round of the NSIC/US Bank Volleyball Tournament in Marshall, Minnesota.  WSC, 22-9, now advances to Saturday's semi-finals in St. Paul, Minnesota to face #2 seed and #2 nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth in a 1 p.m. match.
            The Wildcats were dominate in the first set, never trailing, as WSC forced 10 Mustang attack errors and rolled to a 25-15 first set win.  WSC hit .429 in the opening set with no attack errors and 12 kills.
            The second set was close early until the Wildcats pulled away late for a 25-21 win.  With WSC leading 15-14, the Wildcats got three straight kills from freshman middle hitter Alyssa Frauendorfer to force a SMSU timeout with WSC leading 18-14.  The Mustangs never got closer than four points the remainder of the set as WSC went on to the 25-21 set win.
            The third set saw Wayne State build leads of 11-5 and 18-13 before the host Mustangs rallied to tie the score at 23-23.  SMSU had six set points in the third frame, but WSC battled back each time.  Trailing 30-29, WSC got a SMSU service error followed by a Frauendorfer kill and an SMSU attack error to pull out the 33-31 set win and sweep the match.
            Wayne State had just seven attack errors the entire match and hit .317 with 45 kills while holding Southwest Minnesota State to a .163 hitting percentage with 28 attack errors and 52 kills.
            The Wildcat were stellar at the net tonight, holding a 12-2 blocking advantage over SMSU.  The Mustangs had four more digs than WSC, 57-53.
            Senior outside hitter Cori Hobbs had a huge hitting night for the Wildcats, recording 19 kills with no errors and a .442 attack percentage.  The Battle Creek graduate also moved up one spot on the WSC all-time kills list and now has 1,204 to move past Brittany Van Beek (1,195 kills from 2005-08) for 12^th place on the all-time list.  Hobbs also had 10 digs and six blocks for her 22^nd double-double of the season.
            Sophomore rightside hitter Elizabeth Gebhardt was equally as impressive, notching 11 kills and just one attack error in 23 attempts for a .435 attack percentage.  Freshman middle hitter Alyssa Frauendorfer added eight kills and matched her career-high with eight blocks in the contest.
            Sophomore libero Courtney VanGroningen had a team-high 13 digs with Katie Hughes adding 11. Sophomore setter Leisa McClintock contributed 36 set assists and 10 digs for the Wildcats.           
            Wayne State now faces #2 seed Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 1 p.m. in the NSIC/US Bank Volleyball Tournament semi-finals after the Bulldogs swept Sioux Falls Wednesday night 25-14, 25-10 and 25-21.