MAYVILLE, ND – The Mayville State University Comets had one final chance for a tune-up for the upcoming North Star Athletic Association postseason volleyball tournament. Wednesday night's matchup against the Presentation College Saints went back-and-forth, but it was Lindsey Johnson's Comets who came out on top. The Comets survived a second-set loss, en route to a 3-1 match win at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville.
 
"I was happy we were able to bounce back, after a disappointing second set loss," Coach Johnson said.
 
It was all Comets in set one, as they jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead, powered by a 7-0 run. The run was paced by four kills by Victoria Johnson, all set up on a pass by Elora Passa. The run stopped at that, and was countered by a 4-0 run by the Saints, on three kills and a service ace by Kilinoe Gora, making it 10-8 in favor of Mayville State.
 
After a point by Mayville State, Presentation again went on another run. This time, a 6-0 Saints run put them in the driver's seat, 14-11.
 
Mayville State bounced back, with a 8-0 run of their own, pulling back ahead 19-14. The biggest span was a 3-0 run, where Presentation's Allisen Nielsen committed back-to-back-to-back set errors, to put the Comets ahead 15-14 at that point. The back-to-back-to-back errors were followed up with a service ace by Mason Hart, followed by a Jayden Warner kill.
 
Presentation again broke the run, albeit momentarily, before Mayville State went on another 3-0 run, to go ahead 22-15. After Presentation tried to hit the 20-point mark, back-to-back Comet kills put the set away, 25-19.
 
In set two, Presentation College had the lead for the first two points of the set. Then, Mayville State took over.
 
The Comets led the entire way, ahead 24-18 and looking to take the 2-0 lead in the match. But, Presentation College had different thoughts.
 
A 6-0 run by the Saints tied the match at 24-24. Haylee Biel's three kills paced the Saints run.
 
Mayville State took a 25-24 lead on the next serve, on Brooke Swanson's attack error.
 
Then, the tables turned.
 
Biel came up big again, with a kill to tie the set 25-25. That was followed by another kill, by Presentation's Kayla Wolfe, giving the Saints a 26-25 lead. The Saints won set two with a Comet attack error, 27-25.

The third set was back-and-forth to start, with Presentation taking the early 10-7 lead.
 
That's where the momentum switched, as Mayville State took on a 9-0 run, paced by a Kaitlin Leier kill and eight Presentation attack errors, giving Mayville State the 16-10 lead. The Comets took complete control there, taking the third set 25-17.
 
Set four started out all Mayville State, taking a quick 4-1 lead.
 
Presentation found their footing and kept things tight, tying the set up several times, before taking a two-point lead, 16-14. The lead eventually grew to three, before evaporating.
 
With Presentation ahead 20-17, the Comets went on a run. Victoria Johnson went off for back-to-back kills, behind a strong start to the run by Ashley Pyburn. Bliss' kill made it 21-20 Mayville State, late in the fourth set.
 
Biel again came up big, tying the set 21-21 late.
 
That's where Mayville State took over. An attack error by the Saints gave the Comets the 22-21 edge.
 
A kill by Victoria Johnson made it 23-21. On Bliss' next serve, Swanson committed a set error, sending the set to match point.
 
With Bliss serving, Passa set up a pass to Johnson's side, who slammed it home for a four-set win for the Comets.
 
The Comets were led by Victoria Johnson with 20 kills and five blocks; Passa with 47 assists; and Warner with a career-high 51 digs.
 
"We had some kids with big numbers tonight that really led us," Coach Johnson said. "Our entire team contributed, and it was a big win for us heading into post season play."
 
The Comets finish the regular season with a record of 9-5 in NSAA play, and will take a four-match winning streak into the North Star Athletic Association Tournament, which begins Saturday, November 16 at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D. With two matches left on Friday (Bellevue at Dakota State, Valley City at Dickinson State), the Comets have locked up no lower than fourth place in the regular season final standings.