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Minot State volleyball snaps 54-game NSIC losing streak

Sean Arbaut/Minot State athletics  Minot State's Hayley Swain (6) celebrates after a point during a women's college volleyball match Saturday at the MSU Dome.

Minot State volleyball felt like this was a long time coming.

Nearly three years, to be exact.

Saturday, the Beavers earned their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win since Nov. 8, 2014, by sweeping Bemidji State 3-0. Set scores were 25-21, 25-21, 25-13.

The victory snaps a program-high 54-game NSIC losing streak.

“We deserved to win tonight,” MSU sophomore middle hitter Emily Falldorf said. “I think all the hard work we’ve put in the last however many months has showed. We stuck together and it showed tonight, it will show every night from here on out. It was really awesome to get this win.”

After the final point of the match, MSU’s bench emptied and rushed the floor to celebrate the victory with their teammates. It might have been just a simple conference victory in the grand scheme of things, but it meant so much more than that to the 18 players on the Beavers’ roster.

“It’s been a challenge to stay together in situations like this at times, but I think the people we have on our team trust each other,” Falldorf said. “We knew this day was finally going to come. And now that it has, it’s amazing.”

In the first set, the match had the appearance of a very different outcome, as MSU quickly fell behind 11-3. Yet, the Beavers responded with an 11-3 run of their own to tie the set at 14 apiece. Leading 17-16, MSU won five of the next six points to put itself comfortably ahead 22-17 and eventually won the first set 25-21.

“We’ve been trusting the process,” junior setter Kelsey DeWulf said. “We believed in it and it’s finally showing. We finally showed that we are out here and ready to play, that we can take people down.”

In the second set, the momentum turned when MSU went on a 5-0 run after leading 17-15, increasing its lead to 22-15. MSU gave up a 6-2 swing to Bemidji (3-21, 0-15 NSIC), but eventually took the second set 25-21.

After the extended break, MSU came out swinging in the third set and jumped out to a 13-7 lead. The third set continued to be all MSU, as the Beavers claimed a 25-13 set win and their first NSIC victory in three years.

“Since I took the job in February, it’s something that’s been talked about,” MSU coach Dana Cordova said. “To finally get the win is nice and to do it in a sweep and do it at home was very exciting.”

Falldorf led MSU with 13 kills, while Shelby Spuller chipped in 11. DeWulf had 34 assists and Karli Koza had a team-high 16 digs.

“Everybody came together from our defense from our serve return,” Cordova said. “Emily had a fantastic game, but everybody was solid. When they made a mistake, they forgot about it. And that’s definitely the first time I can say that since we’ve been together.”

Cordova added despite the weight of the losing streak, the players’ spirits never wavered and they continued to stay the course.

“It’s funny. You’d think so, but this group of girls came ready to practice every day,” she said. “They came to compete every day. Because they knew they really wanted this. I told them after I was really proud of the way they competed afterward and always stood together. I don’t think they’ll be just satisfied with just this. We play Mary coming up and we’re going to be ready for them. The season is just beginning.”

MSU (5-19, 1-14) is back in action at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it faces the University of Mary in Bismarck.

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge.

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