On Friday evening, the Mayville State Comet Volleyball team had their first home game of the season inside the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse against a non-conference guest, the Briar Cliff University Chargers. BCU entered into the contest after a recent loss to the University of Jamestown on Thursday night. The Comets were able to send them back to Iowa with another loss once the night was over after four sets of play. 

In the first set, it was anyone's game to take after a point-by-point battle to 12 each. The Comets answered back to take some small leads from the Chargers with kills of their own, coming from Cassidy Miller, Kiana Johnson and Victoria Johnson. 15 ties overall in the set would keep both sides on the edge of their seats in this one. BCU took a small 4-point lead until the Comets ran the middle with Victoria Johnson on multiple kills, tallying 7 total in the set. BCU kept answering back on the way to 24 each, but the Comets sealed the final two points to take it, 26-24 with a Hannah Bliss kill to end it.

The second set saw the Comets get off to a slow start, behind the gate at a 5-10 deficit.  A turn of the tide went in the Comets' favor when a balanced attack of kills by many helped MSU go on a 9-4 run to tie it up at 14 each. The strong run would continue with another 5-1 run after to force BCU into a time out.  The Comet offense was spreading itself out after kills from Jacey Ross, Cassidy Miller, and Victoria Johnson keeping the Chargers guessing on which attackers to target. All in all, the Comets were able to finish this one off in a 25-19 fashion to take the 2-0 lead. 

Briar Cliff was able to take one away from the Comets in Set #3, with a similar format compared to set #1's theme of multiple ties.  Cassidy Miller had a good groove going early with 3 kills and a block to keep the Comets in it.  She would get another stretch of kills and blocks in the set, along with Hannah Bliss as the game moved along to 19 each. The Comets would get stuck however from that point and make a few errors, as they had a hard time containing Victoria Gonzalez and Analyse Stapleton from Briar Cliff. Gonzalez's 14 kills and Stapleton's 13 on the night were a tough force to contend with throughout the contest. BCU was able to claim the win, 25-19. 

Mayville State came out strong to begin the fourth set, once again, going with the hot attacking duo of Victoria Johnson and Cassidy Miller. The Comets would go up 6-2, but witness a 6-2 run by BCU that tied it up at 8 each. After that point, MSU was able to go on a 12-6 run and give them a comfortable lead, fueled again by Victoria Johnson's strong game from the middle and a dump by Jana Mehus to trick the Chargers. Johnson would help seal the win in the end with the final two points coming from her, ending in a 25-22 score to give the Comets a 3-1 victory. 

Coach Lindsey Johnson was thrilled with her team's performance.  "We had a great crowd and tons of energy tonight to feed off. Our team came out with an edge and had to force BCU into making adjustments, instead of our team adjusting to them. The game was a hard fought match on both ends, so it is a great feeling to get a win in a game like that. It's always nice to get the win at home, too!"

The hard-hitting duo of Victoria Johnson and Cassidy Miller helped pace the Comets offense with Johnson's 14 kills and Miller's 13. The pair combined for 27 of the team's 51 kills on the night. Feeding that strong effort at the front row was Jana Mehus' game-high 40 assists. The Comet defense was strong and balanced as well this evening, as Jayden Warner finished with 20 digs, Natalie Hadrava getting 13, and Mehus recording 11 on the night for a double-double game. 

The 8-7 Comets will rest for a couple of days and return to action at home against Concordia College on Monday at 7 p.m. at home.