GREAT FALLS, MT – After a thrilling and historic win over a ranked team on Thursday night, the Mayville State Comets were looking to keep the momentum in their favor on Day 2 of the action at the Falls Classic in Great Falls, MT.  The big win over the host team of #15 University of Providence did a lot to boost the confidence of the Comets in their matches against University of Montana-Western and Lewis-Clark State College on Friday.

Bringing Down The Bulldogs
UM-W was a foe that the Comets saw last week at the Corn Palace Invite in Mitchell, SD, a game that the Comets won in a 3-2 manner. The Bulldogs took control in the first set and went on a 12-1 run early to build things up to a 12-point lead on their way to a 25-15 win.  

For the second set, the Comets bounced back from the loss and took the lead on a nice stretch of kills from Jana Mehus and Kiana Johnson to bring things to 8-5.  After UM-W closed the gap a bit to a 10-8, Mayville State went on a nice 9-3 run to widen their lead on the way to take the second set, which was capped off by kills from Natalie Hadrava and Cassidy Miller to close it out. 

The third set saw the Comets open it up early with a nice 7-1 run, which started with a service ace by Mason Hart. UM-W would eventually bring things to 10-7, but kills from Kiana Johnson and Victoria Johnson would rebuild a comfortable lead for the Comets. MSU's lead would extend again to six at 20-14, then they had to fight off a small run by the Bulldogs, but were able to finish it strong with a 25-21 win that was sealed with a kill by Hannah Bliss. 

In the fourth set, the Comets went back and forth with the Bulldogs with the game tied at five each. MSU took advantage of the Bulldogs errors and added a few kills of their own to give themselves a quick 5-0 burst and a 10-5 lead. They would extend that run on an 11-3 surge, which would be a key turning point in the overall match. It was enough to seal the win for the Comets, with the exclamation points delivered by two straight kills from Cassidy Miller to end the set and match. 

Miller and Hannah Bliss led the Comets with 11 kills each in the effort. Four Comets were in double figures on digs in the strong defensive effort: Jayden Warner with 29, Jana Mehus with 16, Natalie Hadrava with 11, and Mason Hart with 10. Jana Mehus also led the way in assists with 37.  The team as a total had 80 digs in the contest, and 49 kills. Mason Hart and Natalie Hadrava each had a service ace. 

The win was a very memorable one for Mayville State Coach Lindsey Johnson, as it was her 200th win as a head coach. Congratulations to Coach Johnson for her hard work and dedication to 200 victories. 

Trouble with Lewis-Clark
The Comets had a brief afternoon rest and took on the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors out of Idaho, just a couple of hours after competing against the Bulldogs. Things got off to a tough start in the first set. The Warriors came out ready to go and took control with a 5-1 run to start things off. The Comets tried to inch their way back to a tie, but couldn't quite contend with L-C State's push towards the end in the 25-19 loss.  

The second set started off on a different note with the Comets taking a 9-6 lead with a couple kills from Hannah Bliss, but a strong run by the Warriors tied it up at 10 apiece quickly. From there, the Comets made a nice rally of five straight with kills from Cassidy Miller, Natalie Hadrava, and Jana Mehus. That run would be answered with a response by the Warriors, this time edging things up to a tie at 16. All in all, the set alone had 12 ties in it, but the Warriors capped it off with a 3-score run to win it narrowly 25-23.  

The third set saw the Comets stay in the game up until the midway point, Kiana Johnson was able to provide some offense with a couple kills and Mayville State was able to take advantage of the Lewis-Clark errors. But, the Warriors found their groove and seemed to be clicking on all cylinders when they went on a big 9-1 run and fought off a small 4-point spurt from the Comets late to take the third set and the overall match in a 25-16 manner.  

Leaders for the Comets in this one were Natalie Hadrava with 8 kills plus Hannah Bliss adding another 7. Jayden Warner once again led with 16 digs, followed by teammate Jana Mehus with 12. Mehus also had 20 assists in the match. One of the big difference makers in the game between the two was the amount of kills, as the Warriors had 53 to the Comets 25.  

For the day, Coach Johnson felt it was a mixed bag of feelings: "We had a slow start against Montana-Western, but it was nice to see the girls fight through it and win the next three sets to get the match. We had a very balanced attack and our defense was really tough! In the second match, it was another slow start for us, we played a better second half of the first set and carried some of that late momentum into the second set to get an early lead, unfortunately it was wasn't quite enough with a strong offensive attack from Lewis-Clark."

The Comets move onto a 6-5 overall record. Saturday's action continues in the Fall Classic in Great Falls, MT as the Comets get an early start to their day at 9 p.m. versus Montana Tech, and a 1 p.m. matchup against Montana State-Northern.