Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 North Sioux City, S.D. - Mayville State was back in action on Saturday in day two of the Labor Day Classic hosted by College of St. Mary. They opened the day with the Governor's State Jaguars and came back for game two against the Saint Francis (Ind.) Cougars.
It was an overall team effort to get the two wins today, but head coach Katie Aasen noted, "Freshman Andrea Majchrzak had her first start and finished with a .400 hitting % with 6 kills. Abby Cox came alive with her offense today, leading the team in kills in both matches, combing for 16 kills and .399% hitting average. The offensive contributions were spread across the board, and it is beneficial to get everyone involved in the offense."
Game 1 vs. Governors State
Despite a quick turnaround from a 6:00pm game Friday to a 9:00am game Saturday morning, Mayville State showed no fatigue against the Jaguars. The Comets opened a small lead early in set one at 10-7 and then scored six consecutive points behind three kills by
Abby Cox, cruising to a 25-13 win.
Kylee Baumgarn's two aces gave an early lead to Mayville State in set 2, and the Comets kept the pressure on and dominated 25-12.
Thyra Peterick shined both on offense and defense with two kills and two blocks. The Comets shut the door on any Jaguar comeback with a decisive 5-0 run early to take a 13-6 lead, and
Calyn Crockett's three kills late sealed the sweep by a score of 25-16.
Peterick, Cox and
Madison McKinnon led a balanced attack with seven kills each.
Payton Richter (14) and
Elora Passa (11) reached double figures in assists.
Natalie Hadrava racked up 15 digs,
Samantha Passa added 10 digs and three aces, Baumgarn also served three aces and Peterick was a part of five blocks.
Game 2 vs. Saint Francis (Ind.)
The Comets wrapped up the tournament against the Cougars of Saint Francis. Set one featured back and forth scoring, neither team found an edge until six straight points by Mayville State transformed an 11-11 tie into a 17-11 lead.
Elora Passa's two kills and a block led this decisive run. The Comets never looked back and won 25-15.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in set 2, but Mayville State responded with an 11-3 run to retake the lead at 11-8. Saint Francis was not deterred and staged their own rally to lead again 18-17. This set went to the wire, and the Comets scored the last three points of the game to win 25-23.
The Cougars came out flat in set 3 and the Comets took full advantage, putting the set away with a key five point run to make the score 15-6. Saint Francis never got closer than five points after that and Mayville State completed the sweep 25-15.
Cox tallied nine kills to lead the Comet attack.
Elora Passa added 19 assists with Peyton Richter close behind with 14. Hadrava contributed 20 digs and two aces, McKinnon blocked five attacks, and
Samantha Passa recorded seven kills and 14 digs.
"We had the superior offense in both matches. Leading in kills and significantly better hitting percentages," said coach Aasen. "We also out blocked them and had the most digs, we dug more balls than them, and had more offensive opportunities."
Coach Aasen also said, "I am so proud of this team and their discipline and focus to get the job done, each game could have easily gone to 5 sets, but they showed up, and played to win."
The two wins boosted the Comets record to 5-1, their best start since 2012. Mayville State is back in action next weekend with three matches against Frontier Conference opponents in the Valley City State Tournament starting on Friday, September 8th.
For full schedule information, live stream and stats visit
https://msucomets.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule.
