Mayville, N.D. - The Comets Volleyball welcomed the Dakota State Trojans to the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse for their conference home opener Wednesday night. With a lively white out crowd behind them, Mayville State defeated the Trojans in a back and forth five set match.

"Nothing compares to playing in the Lewy Lee, especially after waiting so long to have a home game," said head coach Katie Aasen. The Comets first match of the season was August 26th and they have been on the road ever since, so finally being at home was a high note for everyone.

In set one, the Comets used offense from Elora Passa and Abby Cox to open up an 11-5 lead. Mayville State prevented the Trojans from gaining any momentum as they maintained a lead through the rest of the set. Two kills from Madison McKinnon late sealed the victory 25-19.

Set two was close throughout as both teams grappled for control. Dakota State struck late with a 6-1 run to turn a slim 15-14 lead into a 21-15 advantage. The Trojans fended off any chances for a Comets rally and won set two 25-20.

With the match tied at one game apiece, set three would give the victor a decided advantage. With the score knotted at 9, the Comets scored the next four points to gain a 13-9 lead. Dakota State managed to claw back into the game and tie the score at 18, but kills by Elora Passa and McKinnon fueled a 7-1 rally at the end to take set three 25-19.

Mayville State continued their momentum into set four, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after a kill by Thyra Peterick. The Comets stretched that lead to 15-9, but Dakota State found new life and ripped off an 11-1 run to take a 20-16 lead. The Trojans held on to that momentum and forced a fifth set by winning 25-18.

"Dakota State is solid all around; they're a good team, so it's essential that you make it challenging to run their strong offense," said coach Aasen.

McKinnon and Nicole Kortan provided early offense to keep set five close, then the Comets wrested control of the match with five straight points. This rally expanded the Comets lead to 11-5 and exhausted both of Dakota State's timeouts. The shell-shocked Trojans were unable to recover as Mayville State took the final set 15-11.

Aasen added, "The 5th set can be tricky, but I had so much confidence in them, and they made it a priority to make adjustments. It was huge for us to capitalize on their mistakes in that 5th set and use every opportunity to gain momentum and control. A couple big plays can make a difference when you only have 15 points to play with."

Elora Passa had a monster game with 19 kills and 30 assists. McKinnon and Samantha Passa also reached double figures in kills with 14 and 11 respectively. Peyton Richter contributed 29 assists and Natalie Hadrava dug out 27 attacks.

When asked about pulling out the five set win coach Aasen stated, "Serving tough and relentless defense helped us get them out of system. Our defense showed up from the beginning and was consistent throughout the whole match. Everyone contributed defensively, with our block, and back row and even our front row were getting touches and making saves."

The Comets record now stands at 10-4, 2-1 in the North Star. The home stand continues with a huge game against the #12 ranked Bellevue Bruins on Friday, September 29^th. First serve is at 6:00pm.