ST. PAUL Minn. – No. 11 St. Cloud State Volleyball (25-6, 18-2 NSIC) avenged its regular season loss to Wayne State on Saturday evening in the NSIC Tournament Semifinals, taking the No. 2 Wildcats (27-4, 19-1 NSIC) down in four sets at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul. The Huskies will play in their sixth straight NSIC Tournament Championship after winning 25-19, 26-24, 25-27 and 25-15.
 
Sophomore libero Laurin Hamann (Manitowoc, Wis.) recorded 38 digs to take down the program's single match record of nearly two decades. The previous record of 37 was set by All-American Andreana Pieper on Oct. 20, 2007.
 
TOP HUSKIES

• Hamann – school record 38 digs and four assists
• Sophomore setter Braya LaPlant (Grand Rapids, Minn.) – 70-assist, 10 dig double-double with three block assists and two aces
• Redshirt sophomore Abby Wachal (Lincoln, Neb.) – 20-dig, 16 kill double-double on .429 hitting with one solo block
• Junior outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) – 19-kill, 15-dig double-double
• Senior middle blocker Emilie Planert (De Pere, Wis.) – career-high 15 kills (.542 hitting percentage) and three block assists 

QUOTABLE – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann
"I'm so impressed with the intentional work that our women have put in during practice in the past couple of weeks. We've worked specifically on defensive positioning, getting stopped sooner and lower with our defensive positioning, attacking the edges of the court with our swings, tooling on the block and serving tough. I thought we saw a lot of these things on display again. I think our women played with a hunger and an aggressiveness out there tonight that we had been lacking at times earlier this season. There were so many strong individual performances tonight – it's not often when you can have five attackers with at least 13 kills in a match, a libero who sets the school record in digs and a setter with 70 assists. Our coaching staff did a fantastic job of helping prepare our women specifically for this week as well. (associate head coach) Marci (Taumalolo) and (graduate assistant coach) Keely (Kurshcner) have been so consistent and solid giving feedback this year and that has really helped our team out."
 
NOTABLES

• The Huskies moved to 16-23 all-time against Wayne State and 6-4 in their last 10 matchups against the Wildcats. SCSU moved to 1-1 against WSC this season series and are now 4-0 all-time against the Wildcats at neutral sites and 4-0 against WSC in the NSIC tournament, after earning a quarterfinal victory in 2019 and semifinal wins ins and 2021 and 2023.
• SCSU improved to 4-3 in four set matches this season and 3-0 in neutral site matchups.
• SCSU improved to 15-2 (.882) all-time in NSIC Tournament matches and 6-0 in semifinal matches, advancing to its sixth consecutive tournament championship.
• The Huskies led the match in points (87-66), kills (77-54), hitting percentage (.350 - .215), assists (75-53) and digs (101-78). The Wildcats led in aces (4-3) and blocks (8-7).
• SCSU's .350 hitting percentage was tied for the sixth best mark of the season, its 77 kills were No. 3 overall and No. 1 in four-set matches, its 75 assists were No. 3 overall and No. 1 in four-set matches, its 101 digs were No. 2 overall and No. 1 in four-set matches
• Hamann broke her previous single match record for digs by 10.
• LaPlant tallied her eighth double-double of the season and second in a row. Her 70 assists were the third most in any match this season and the most in a four-set match by 23
• Wachal produced her eighth double-double of the season. Her 20 digs were a new single match personal best and the third most in a four-set match this season and her 16 kills were the fifth most in a four-set match this season.
• Kimm posted her 15^th double-double of the season and third in a row. Her 19 kills tied her career high and team best mark for a four-set match this season and her 19.5 points ranked third most in four-setters.
• Planert produced the sixth match of .542+ hitting percentage with at least 12 kills for the Huskies this season. Her 15 kills beat her previous best mark by five.
• Graduate opposite Sam Zimmerman (Moorhead, Minn.) contributed 13 kills (.414 hitting percentage) and five digs. She has sent down 13+ kills in four matches this season.
• Redshirt senior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) recorded 13 kills and three block assists. She has posted 13+ kills in 13 matches this season.

UP NEXT
The Huskies advanced to the NSIC Tournament Championship for the sixth consecutive season and are seeking their fourth conference title when they No. 1 seed/No. 5/tournament host Concordia-St. Paul (26-4, 19-1 NSIC) on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul. Links to each coverage option will be available on the St. Cloud State Volleyball schedule page*. Information regarding the tournament can be found at the NSIC Tournament Homepage.
 
*Note - The NSIC semifinals and championship will be streamed on the NSIC Network for a charge of $10 per match or $15 for a tournament pass. Fans are encouraged to purchase access prior to the match as an account will need to be set up in order to access the matches. FAQ and troubleshooting information is available on the NSIC Network Help page.