Mankato, Minn. - The #10 Mavericks returned to the Taylor Center Friday evening as they defeated the #18 Wayne State Wildcats 25-21, 20-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-12 in an NSIC matchup. With the victory Minnesota State improved to 4-0 on the season in matches that go five sets.
 
MSU started the match with an early 6-point streak culminating with two straight aces from freshman Ellie Van De Steeg to take a 7-2 lead in the first set. The Wildcats would rally though to take an 18-17 lead, but with timely kills by seniors Chelsea Fogarty and Kayla Berning along with some WSC errors the Mavericks regained the lead. MSU took the first set 25-21 when sophomore Haley Doran closed it out with an ace.
 
The Wildcats jumped out to an 11-7 advantage in the second set with the help of dual 4-point rallies. They bumped that lead to as much as six at 20-14. MSU went on a 4-point spurt of its own with kills from Fogarty and sophomore Olivia Kuker to cut the deficit to two at 20-18, but Wayne State closed it out from there, scoring five of the last seven points to even the match at a set a piece.
 
Wayne State went out early in the third set getting out to a 10-4 lead and not looking back. It ended with a 25-14 win and a two sets to one lead.
 
The fourth set was met with confusion and comebacks. The set started with a delay of game warning resulting in a point for Wayne State. With the Mavericks leading 19-18, they were saddled with another delay warning giving the Wildcats another point, equaling the set at 19-19. WSC scored the next two points, but a couple of key blocks from junior Courteney Steinhauser along with block assists from Fogarty and freshman Tiana Runck gave MSU a 22-21 lead. Runck closed out the set with a kill equaling the match at two sets a piece.
 
The fifth set was met with rallies and drama. The Wildcats started out with a 3-0 lead before MSU countered with three. WSC scored the next three to go up 6-3 in a set to 15 points. The Mavericks scored five of the next six points to take an 8-7 lead with the help of two kills from Steinhauser. MSU widened the lead with Fogarty closing out scoring the final four points for the Mavericks, including a block to wrap it up.
 
Fogarty led MSU with 19 kills. Steinhauser added 14, senior Jill Storlie had 13 and Berning helped with 12. Fogarty also led the team with 21 digs with junior Briel Hendricksen adding 20. Steinhauser and Fogarty each led the squad with 4 blocks a piece.
 
The win moves MSU to 6-2 in the NSIC and 12-4 overall. They host Augustana on Saturday for a 4 p.m. match at Taylor Center.