Sioux City, Iowa - Volleyball finished up their preseason play in Sioux City, Iowa against the Briar Cliff Chargers Wednesday night. In a back and forth battle, the Comets made a dramatic comeback in the fifth set to pull out the victory.

After the game, head coach Katie Aasen said, "Overall I am so proud of the effort and resilience the girls showed tonight. I think this game really proved that even when some parts of our game aren't going well, we can still shine in other aspects."

The teams swapped points early in set one until a 6-1 flurry by the Chargers gave Briar Cliff a 12-8 lead. The Comets got within one point multiple times, but Briar Cliff rebuffed every attack to take the first set 25-21.

The Comets took charge early in set two with six straight points, with two kills from Elora Passa and two aces by Samantha Passa to take a 10-7 lead. Briar Cliff responded by taking the next five points to reclaim the lead 12-10. Mayville State broke a 17-17 tie with a 5-0 run and a Thyra Peterick kill evened up the match at one set apiece.

Set three started with the Comets scoring the first four points, only to see the Chargers rattle off a seven point run of their own. Another Briar Cliff run turned a 10-9 lead into an 18-11 advantage enroute to a 25-20 win.

Both teams were battling hard for an advantage in set four, with the Chargers taking an early lead. Two timely kills by Madison McKinnon helped the Comets tie the score at 15. No team held a lead larger than two the rest of the way, and the Comets scored the final three points to send the match into a decisive fifth set.

Set five got off to an ominous start as Briar Cliff turned a 4-4 tie into an 11-6 lead. The momentum shifted completely to the Comets favor after a timeout, as contributions from up and down the roster overwhelmed the Chargers. Mayville State scored nine of the last 10 points to take the match 3 sets to 2.

"It was a full five set match of adjustments and a battle to see which team was able to make adjustments faster," added Aasen. "Going to a fifth set is tough, especially with a switch over at 6-8 but they played one point at a time and work so hard every point."

Elora Passa continued to stuff the box score, leading the team with 17 kills and 28 assists while adding 14 digs. Abby Cox and Nicole Kortan also finished the game with double-digit kills. Peyton Richter recorded 22 assists and Natalie Hadrava (23) and Samantha Passa (22) combined for 45 digs. 

The Comets wrapped up preseason play and will now prepare to head into their conference opener next week against Valley. "I couldn't be more proud of each and every one of them, they truly played for each other tonight," commented Aasen. "It couldn't have been a better outcome to end preseason and give us the confidence to head into conference play." 

The Comets, who are now 8-3, will travel to Valley City State next Thursday to take on the highly competitive 12-3 Vikings who are now receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. "We are excited to get better this week and prepare for two conference games on the road," said coach Aasen. "We will prepare for Valley City just like we do any other match."

For full schedule information visit: https://msucomets.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule