After a loss on the road to Bellevue University on Friday night, the Mayville State Comet Volleyball team went to Madison, SD to take on the Dakota State University Trojans in another North Star Athletic Association matchup on Saturday.  

The Comets got off to a great start in the first set. They did some nice work in avoiding a slow start by getting an ace right away from Mason Hart and causing some frustration with four straight Trojan errors to jump out to a 5-0 lead. This set would see a lot of rallies as each team was working hard to get the lead or retain it. Dakota State would edge their way back into a tie at 12, but Mayville State would keep working at it to hold the lead, and build it by as much as 6, keeping it there with some balanced attacking from Hannah Bliss, Cassidy Miller, and Victoria Johnson. The Comets would keep that 6-point lead to the end and win it 25-19 to take Set 1.

Set 2 would watch both teams battle closely once again, with either side having trouble in gaining more than a 2 point lead at some points. It was knotted up 12 each until Dakota State broke free with a kill, a service ace and an attack error from the Comets that gave them a 15-12 lead. MSU was able to tie it up at 15 after a Natalie Hadrava kill sparked a small 3-0 run.  Dakota State tilted it in their favor again with a 2-point lead at 18-16, causing MSU to call a timeout for readjustments. DSU would build their lead to 21-18, but the Comets answered back with successive kills from Hannah Johnson and Hannah Bliss. A DSU attacking error would force them into a timeout with the game tied at 21. Each time would fire back at each other with kills of their own as the set once again was knotted at 24. Cassidy Miller would come through for the Comets with 2 more kills near the end to tie it at 24 and also take a 25-24 lead. The set continued with more ties on the way to 29, each squad unable to break loose until DSU was able to take it 31-29 on two kills from Anna Schwint and Barbara Briceno. 

For Set 3, it would remain close in the beginning until the Comets built up a nice 9-5 lead. DSU would climb back into it and go on a very impressive 9-1 run to take a 14-10 lead in a hurry.  The Comets took a timeout to halt the momentum for a change, and tried to spark a little run of their own with two kills coming from Natalie Hadrava and Hannah Bliss. A few errors by the Trojans plus those kills from the Comets helped close that gap, causing the Trojans to take a timeout of their own with a 15-14 lead. DSU would continue to go to the strong attacking game coming from Barbara Briceno and keep the Comets in fighting mode, building up a lead to 22-19 and forcing a Comet timeout. It was enough for the Trojans to take the third set in a 25-20 fashion, and a 2-1 lead to go into Set #4.

Set 4 would be the final one for the Comets, as DSU would once again give a close battle and pull away in the end.  The set would become tied at 14 and 18 until the Trojans would finish off the set and the match with a 7 to 1 run with some strong kills from Barbara Briceno and Sami Zell.  

Comets Head Coach Lindsey Johnson had the feeling that all the cylinders weren't clicking for her team in today's matchup. "I just felt like today we couldn't put everything together, when our block looked good our offense wasn't there, when our defense looked good our passing wasn't there. We need to get back in the gym and work on it and come back next week and get a few conference wins at home."

Leaders for the Comets in Kills were Cassidy Miller with 11, plus Hannah Bliss and Victoria Johnson with 10 each. Jana Mehus paced the Comets well on the day with 38 assists, and four Comets were in double figures on Digs.  Jayden Warner led the way again with 29, followed by Mason Hart with 18, Jana Mehus with 12 and Natalie Hadrava with 10. Victoria Johnson and Cassidy Miller led with 4 blocks each.

Next action for the Comets (10-10, 1-4 NSAA) will be at home against Valley City State on Oct 3rd at 7p.m..