On Day 2 of the DWU Corn Palace Invite, the MSU Comets got off to another winning start on their day and ended it with just the opposite of the result they wanted.  

In Match #1, the Comets took on the Sterling College Warriors to start things off. Mayville State took the first set with a score of 25-20, which included 13 kills from each squad.  MSU edged the Warriors in Set 2, after trying to keep them at bay as Sterling College was down by 10 but rallied their way back into a tie game at 22 and took a 23-22 lead to cap off their run.  The Comets tied it up at 23 and kept the Warriors off in the end and claimed the win, 25-23.  The third set found the Comets falling into a 9-point hole and had to fight it out to take the match in three. Facing a 14-5 deficit, an 11 to 4 run by the Comets drew them to within 2. Soon after another run, the Comets were able to tie it up multiple times, as both teams kept answering each other's score on the way to 28. MSU claimed the win in the end after a Sterling College error and a match-winning kill from Victoria Johnson to take it 30-28. 

As a team, the Comets collected 43 kills in the contest, with Cassidy Miller leading the way with 15. Jana Mehus paced those attacks with 30 assists in the game.  Defense was an all-around effort as three Comets were in double figures with Digs: Jayden Warner led with 21, Jana Mehus with 14 and Natalie Hadrava with 13.  

The final match of the day and for the invite was against Mount Marty College. The Lancers took charge in the first set as the Comets couldn't get things firing for them. MSU was down 6-0 in a hurry and couldn't quite climb back into it. The Lancers got the better edge of the Comets and kept a steady lead as they secured the 24-12 victory.  The second set saw both teams keep it fairly tight until the Lancers pulled away a bit to make it 18-10 in their favor. The Comets saw an opportunity to climb their way back and had a nice 9-2 run to make it within one. The fight wasn't over as the Comets nailed three straight after the Lancers hit 24 points and tied it all up. It would be tied again at 25 and 26 until Mount Marty took the second set 28-26.  

In the final set of the day, the MSU was down early into it by 5, but slowly climbed their way to tying it up and taking a 2-point lead at 16-14 on a 4-0 run. It then became a battle of momentum shifting either way.  The Lancers took the lead with a 4-0 run of their own, stopped by a 3 score run by the Comets, then Mount Marty surged ahead with another 4-0 burst. The Comets were able to get it to 22-23, but MMC pulled ahead in the end for the match sweep to finish it.  

Leaders in the second match were Kiana Johnson with 9 kills, Jana Mehus with 28 assists, and 3 players in double figures for digs: Jayden Warner with 23, Mason Hart with 22, and Natalie Hadrava with 12.  Victoria Johnson led with 4 blocks, followed by 2 each from Kiana Johnson and Cassidy Miller.

Overall on the day's efforts, Coach Lindsey Johnson was feeling fine with the first match, and not so much on the second one. "In the Sterling match, it was good to get a match in 3 sets, we got ourselves down in each set and it was good to see us battle back and win the match. Against Mount Marty, I didn't feel good about how we came out in this match. Last match of the weekend and our intensity was not where it needed to be. We found a little spark at the end of set 2 and 3 but Mount Marty found a way to complete the 3 set victory."

Next up for the 4-4 Comets will be on the road again to Montana for the University of Providence Tournament, with games set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday there.