MAYVILLE, ND – One night after taking a tough loss to the Viterbo V-Hawks, the Comet volleyball team found themselves back inside the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse less than 24 hours later for another North Star Athletic Association matchup. The Waldorf Warriors were in town on Saturday afternoon, and the Comets sent the Warriors home with a 3-0 conference loss, the fifth conference win of the season for the Comets and their 15^th win overall.
"I thought we came out with intensity," head coach Lindsey Johnson said.
Mayville State and Waldorf battled from the get-go, with the first set being the most exciting.
Waldorf jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, on two attack errors by Hannah Bliss and a kill by Kyra Platzek. Platzek proved to be one of the players the Comets had to watch out for. The Comets did battle back to within one point, before Waldorf took over again.
The Warriors knocked off five straight points, taking the lead 13-7, before Hannah Bliss picked up a kill to stop the run.
"They (Waldorf) took a nice lead," Johnson said. "So we had to figure out how to do a few different things."
The set was all Warriors until late.
Down 20-17, Bliss again picked up where she left off—this time a pair of kills. Then, an attack error by Emily Stolpp pulled the Comets and Warriors even at 20-20. The teams battled back and forth—until it was 25-24 in favor of Waldorf.
Platzek's biggest—and most costly—error was a service error that went into the net, sending the game into extra points.
Stolpp again tied the game 28-28 and then Ariel Pindegayosh's attack error set up the golden chance for the Comets, which Bliss took advantage of, sending the Comets into set two with a 1-0 match lead.
Set two saw Mayville State jump out to a 5-0 lead, a lead that the Comets never looked back from. Another 3-0 run later put the Comets ahead 13-5.
But, the biggest, and the most crucial point of the second set was a 6-0 run by the Comets, which saw five of the six points scored on Waldorf attack errors. The lone kill was by Victoria Johnson on a set from Elora Passa. The errors saw Mayville State pull ahead 20-8.
Four more Waldorf points brought the Warriors to within 23-12.
Platzek set up the set point by committing a service error—her second in two sets.
Passa picked up the game-winning point with a kill, sending the Comets into game three with a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was back-and-forth until late, when a 5-0 run put the Comets ahead 21-19 on three attack errors by the Warriors and a kill by Kiana Johnson.
Mayville State then gave up a point, bringing the match to a one-point game, on a kill by Stolpp.
The Comets then saw Passa pick up a pair of kills and saw an attack error by Pindegayosh, making it 24-20 Mayville State.
The Warriors tried to cut into the lead—but could only score one more point, a kill by Pindegayosh, making it 24-21.
Bliss, on a pass from Passa, scored the final point.
Bliss led the Comets with 11 kills.
Passa finished with 24 assists.
"Today was a breakout game for Elora," Johnson said. "She put the ball to the floor on second contact."
Jayden Warner, who also had an assist, led the Comets with 31 digs in the contest.
"She just tracks balls down," Johnson said of Warner.
The Comets will be off until Tuesday, when they travel to Moorhead, Minn., to take on the Concordia College Cobbers, a team who the Comets have already seen this season.