Hosting the first Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament match under head coach Lisa Mathes-Peters, the University of Sioux Falls volleyball team defeated Midland Lutheran College (22-25, 30-28, 25-11, 19-25, 15-9).

The Cougars earned their first victory in the first round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament since 2003. It took five sets to sort out who would advance in the tournament, with USF (19-18 overall, 7-10 GPAC) earning the bid to play the top seed in the tournament, Northwestern College.

“I was proud of how the girls pulled together, were mentally tough and were able to pull it out in five sets,” Mathes-Peters said.

In the first set, USF grabbed a decent 8-5 lead, but the Warriors hit their way back to an 11-9 advantage. The rest of the set USF and MLC would exchange leads, but it was MLC pulling away to take the set 25-22.

USF faced its longest set of the season in the second contest. It was the same scenario as the first set, with USF building a slight lead early, before both teams continued to match points down the stretch. MLC pulled away with a 2-0 run to go up 24-22 and force a match point. Facing a 2-0 match disadvantage, USF won the rally to stay alive at 23-24. Freshman Sarah Kohler’s (Sioux Falls, S.D.) block tied the match at 24-24. The set continued to push extra serves, but monster kills by juniors Danielle Roers (Lakeville, Minn.) and Amber Sneller (Sioux Center, Iowa) gave the Cougars a 30-28 set victory and tied the match at 1-1.

The Cougars arguably played one of their best sets of the season in the third set. With the set tied at 6-6, USF went on an 8-0 run to put the match at 14-6. MLC responded with two points of their own, but the Cougars went on another 8-0 run to go up 22-8. USF would take the match 25-11 and a 2-1 match lead. “We did a really great job blocking in the third set,” Mathes-Peters said. “We built a wall on the net.”

The Warriors built a substantial lead in the fourth set, up 12-6 at one point. USF battled back, putting together a 7-1 run to tie the set at 13-13. The teams would trade points, before MLC pulled away on a 5-0 stretch to end the set at 25-19 and tie the match 2-2.

With both teams facing elimination from the GPAC tournament and the end of their season, the fifth set had everyone in the Stewart Center on their feet. MLC won the first serve, but USF struck back with a 7-0 run. Two points by MLC gave the Warriors hope at 7-3, but USF chipped away as they tried to earn the 15 points needed to advance. The Cougars were able to fend off a couple of attempts by MLC and earn the 15-9 win to advance in the GPAC playoffs.

USF will take on Northwestern College (30-2 overall, 16-0 GPAC) on Saturday, November 7, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Red Raiders are No. 3 in the latest NAIA national polls.

Courtesy: Matt Stull, USF Sports Information