The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team cruised to a victory over Northern State on Friday, Oct. 28. The Mustangs won in three sets, 25-16, 25-23, and 25-14.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Mustangs, who finished with a .250 hitting percentage and held struggling Northern State to -.043.

After an easy first set, the Mustangs found themselves trailing 12-5 at the beginning of the second set; however, solid hitting later in the set helped the Mustangs tighten up the score to 12-10. Whitney Burmeister, a freshman outside hitter, entered as a service substitute in the set, putting down two aces, one of which being the set point.

Following an intense second set, the Mustangs took the third set with ease, winning 25-14.

Pacing the Mustangs were Mary Groth and Devin Diedrich, racking up 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Diedrich also chipped in three aces and four blocks. Emilee Gutzmer tallied 41 assists. Rachel Westby recorded 11 digs.

The Mustangs continued their winning streak as they dominated Minnesota State-Moorhead on Saturday, Oct. 29 and won in four sets, 25-17, 25-21, 29-31, and 25-20.

After winning the first two sets, the Mustangs tied the 2009 team for the most consecutively won sets, with 20.

The Mustangs dropped the third set after a staggering four match points. Although they held on tight, the lady Mustangs were not able to gain an edge on the Dragons.

After a grueling third set, the Mustangs took off in the fourth set and never looked back, winning 25-20 and taking the match.

Five Mustang players racked up double-digit kill totals: Devin Diedrich (20), Mary Groth (11), McKell Anderson (11), Brooke Burmeister (10), and Abbey Thissen (10). Emilee Gutzmer recorded 57 assists. Rachel Westby tallied 25 digs on the match.

The two victories this weekend improved the Mustangs to an overall record of 14-1 and 6-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons fell to 10-6 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC.