MAYVILLE, ND – The Comets hosted another North Star Athletic Association conference battle on Saturday afternoon, taking on the visiting Dickinson State University Blue Hawks. Both teams were hungry for another conference win after facing some tough teams in recent weeks. It was a fierce battle on both ends, with the Comets coming out on top in a sweep at home for their second conference win on the season.

The Comets started off the first set with a 0-3 deficit right away, but were able to climb back up and tie things up at 8 each. Victoria Johnson, Hannah Bliss and Cassidy Miller helped lift the Comets there with one kill each. MSU would reach their largest lead at 4 at 15-11, as Bliss was on her game with 2 more kills to add to her total of 5 in the set. DSU would fight back to get within one at various points, as Kylie Hadley collected 4 kills to keep the Blue Hawks in it.  Bliss, Miller, and Johnson would help close out the set for the Comets with another round of kills from each of them, helping the Comets take the first set, 25-22. 

In Set 2, MSU jumped out quick to a 4-0 lead, and was able to keep the lead throughout, allowing DSU to only tie the game up twice at 4 and 7. The Comets then went on an 8-4 run, fueled largely by the trio of Victoria Johnson, Cassidy Miller and Hannah Bliss once again. DSU took a timeout and worked hard to inch their way back into it. The Comets climbed up to a 20-16 lead, but watched DSU fight back with a 7-4 run to come within one at 24-23, advantage Comets. Needing to stop the momentum a bit, the Comets took a timeout of their own, and came back with a surprise dump kill from Jana Mehus to claim Set 2, 25-23.

The Comets took to the court for the third set and came out with a strong edge. With a mix of kills from Cassidy Miller, Natalie Hadrava, Jana Mehus and a service ace from Hadrava, the Comets drove up the score to 9-4 and forced a DSU timeout. The Blue Hawks weren't going to go away easily as they made a 9-4 run of their own, getting a series of kills from Kennedy Hildebrand, Alyssa Wisher, Kylie Hadley, Kadara Marshall.  With the game tied at 13, the Comets made their move to take the lead and keep it for the win. Cassidy Miller came up with two successive kills, Jana Mehus got a nice service ace to lift the Comets up 22-18, and Hannah Bliss was the go-to attacker towards the end as the game finished with her 12th kill of the night. The Comets won the third set with a 25-21 score and enjoyed a nice home sweep in front of their fans. 

The win was a great feeling for Comets head coach Lindsey Johnson, knowing her team was hungry for another win in the NSAA. "It was nice to come out strong and finish strong, we needed that conference win and it feels good for our team." The Comets lift their overall record to .500 at 11 wins and 11 losses, and reach a 2-5 record in the NSAA. DSU also sits at 2-5 and a 4-15 overall record. 

Leaders for the Comets in Kills were Hannah Bliss with 12 and Cassidy Miller with 10. Jana Mehus recorded a double-double with 35 assists and 14 digs in the contest.  Jayden Warner had a game-high 22 digs, backed up by Mehus' 14 and Mason Hart's 10.  Miller led the squad with 6 blocks on the day. Mehus also had a stellar day in serving, with 3 service aces for the Comets. 

For the Blue Hawks, Alyssa Wisher led with 10 kills, followed by Kylie Hadley and Kadara Marshall with 9 each. Keera Stookey led her squad with 21 assists and Karlie Cleveland had 18.  Ali Hert and Makenzie Digesualdo led with 14 digs each.  Marshall, Wisher, and Sydney Bentz each had a block. 

Next action for the Comets will be at Concordia College at Moorhead, MN on Monday, Oct 8th at 7pm, in a non-conference match-up.