SIOUX CITY, IA – The Mayville State University Comets began their busy weekend with a road trip down I-29, where they ended in Sioux City, Iowa, to take on the Briar Cliff Chargers, coming out on top with an exciting five set win on the road. The win extended Mayville State's winning streak to seven games.

"It was really nice to finish a five-set match," head coach Lindsey Johnson said. "I was especially pleased to do it on the road."

In the first set of the match, Briar Cliff took a quick 3-1 lead, before Mayville State came charging back to tie the game at 3-3 on a kill by Victoria Johnson, set up by Elora Passa.

Tyra Blue made it 4-3 with a kill on a serve by Jayden Warner.

The teams fought back-and-forth, until Briar Cliff went on a 3-0 run to make it 15-12, started with a Grace Whitlaw kill, then a Maureen Imrie service ace and a set error by Passa. That would prove to be too much in set one, as Briar Cliff went on multiple runs, outlasting Mayville State 25-17.

The second set saw Mayville State jump out to a 5-2 lead early, only to see that lead evaporate and disappear, into a 7-6 Briar Cliff lead on back-to-back-to-back kills, the first by Analyse Stapleton, then two from Victoria Gonzalez.

Later in the set, with the game tied 9-9, Passa set up Hannah Bliss for a kill, setting up a run by the Comets. The run ended with Mayville State's Bliss committing a service error, but the Comets were in complete control, ahead 14-10 at the time.

Briar Cliff tried to come back, but an Imrie attack error halted that, and, again, Mayville State went onto the attack, rattling off four straight points, going ahead 20-14. The two teams would then trade points again, but it was a timely kill by Kaitlin Leier, and another by Johnson, that led the Comets to a 25-19 set two win.

"Briar Cliff is a tough team," coach Johnson said. "Our defense came up huge, both in the back row and at the net, with some key blocks."

The third set saw much of the same as sets one and two, as runs aplenty happened throughout the third set. Spot-on serving by Passa early set the tone, as Kiana Johnson, Passa and Bliss picked up kills to put Mayville State ahead 11-6 in the early stages of the set. But, as was in sets one and two, the run was stopped by a hard-charging Briar Cliff team.

Ahead 12-7, Briar Cliff returned a Mason Hart serve, finding a spot on the other side of the floor, where Tyra Blue dropped it in, starting a 4-0 run, pulling Briar Cliff to back within one point, at 12-11.

Later, down 24-23 and heading into set point, a costly error by Grace Whitlaw gave the Comets the 25-23 win, sending it to set four.

Set four was all Briar Cliff, with the Chargers building a commanding 17-8 lead midway through the set. A service error and two attack errors by Briar Cliff brought the Comets to within 17-11, but that's as close as it got, with Briar Cliff forcing a fifth game, winning 25-16.

With their backs up against the wall, Mayville State did it in set five. The determination of the Comets was evident, when they took an early 9-3 lead, behind strong serving by Jordyn Lucas and strong play at the net by Kiana Johnson. Victoria Johnson also had a kill to start out the run for the Comets.

Ahead 11-9, Bliss found the other side of the court to widen the lead to 12-9 and then blocked an attack by Briar Cliff, making it 13-9.

Briar Cliff brought it to within two points on a kill by Gonzalez and a subsequent service ace, also by Gonzalez. But that's it, as Victoria Johnson and Leier killed off the final two balls of the night to take the win for Mayville State.

Bliss and Victoria Johnson led the Comets with 13 kills each. Passa had 33 assists, and three Comets were in double-figures in the digs category, led by Warner's 45, Passa with 16 and freshman Amy Seim with 14.

The Comets improve to 8-6 on the early season with the win. They will come home Saturday and Sunday to host Lakehead University at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. Saturday's game will begin at 3:30 p.m., while Sunday's game will start at noon.