Although it is fall break on the campus of SMSU there was plenty of action when it came to sports. Volleyball had two games on campus, soccer had two games on campus, Golf had their home invite, football was at UMD, Swimming and Diving was at Northern State, and Cross Country was at Wayne State.
On Friday night the SMSU Mustang’s volleyball team had a top 25 matchup against the Northern State Wolves. The Mustangs lost the first two sets. SMSU would turn it around by winning the next three sets in reverse sweep order by the scores of 25-19, 25-16, and 15-11. The second five set victory of the week, winning in five against Augustana earlier in the week.
On Saturday afternoon the SMSU Mustangs volleyball team returned to action with a sweep of Minnesota State Morehead volleyball team, the scores were 25-15, 25-22, and 25-22. Mackenzie Tolk went over 1,000 kills for her career at SMSU against Minnesota State Morehead. SMSU’s volleyball team is 13-0 at the midpoint of the season and they will be on the road next weekend for a couple of NSIC matchups against University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) and St. Cloud State.
The SMSU soccer team was in action at the Schawn Regional Event Center on Friday afternoon against University of Mary (UMary). Although UMary was a tough matchup for SMSU, the soccer team was up for the challenge. Both teams were fighting the Friday afternoon heat and both teams were evenly matched. There was a lot of great defense being played on both sides. They played to a draw in full time.
The SMSU soccer team returned to play on Sunday, and this time it was against the Minot State Beavers. Minot State controlled the ball for most of the game. They were able to get a goal and make it 1-0, Minot State would have enough possession and defense to control the game. SMSU is still looking for their first win in soccer for the season, they will have another chance to hit the pitch next weekend with a couple of NSIC matchups.
SMSU hosted their two-day home invitational at the Marshall Golf Club. They were battling the heat on both days of the event with it being in the upper eighties both days. SMSU placed eighth out of 11 teams. Shooting 87 over par with a total of 663 as a team in a two-day event. Augustana won shooting as a team 16 over par 592 in a two-day event. They beat Northwest Missouri State by five strokes. Meghan Pundsack led SMSU as an individual placing 24th overall shooting 13 over with a total of 157 in the two-day event. It is now back to work for the Mustang Golf teams as their next meeting is October 14th.
SMSU football had a tough test on the road against #4 Ranked UMD. It was a 48-0 UMD lead at the half and UMD decided to take their foot off the gas in the second half leading to a final score of 62-0 UMD. SMSU football is now 0-4 on the season. SMSU hopes to turn it around quickly. Next SMSU has a non-conference matchup at home against Nebraska-Kearny on Saturday at the Schawn Regional Event Center. They are still looking for their first win of the season.
The Mustang Swimming and Diving team went to Northern State for a two-day swim meet. On the first day the SMSU Swim and Dive team got first place, winning the relay part of the meet. On Saturday they split the tri-meet, beating Northern State 122-101. But later on, they lost to UMary 116-105. The swim and dive team will get back to work for a bit because their next meet is October 11th.
The Mustang Cross Country team had a meet in Wayne Nebraska. There were some stellar performances in the Saturday heat. In the women’s 6k race Madison Marco lead the Mustangs getting sixteenth place with a time of 25:18 just ahead of her Mustang teammate Macie Langstraat who had a time of 25:25. In the Men’s 8k race Carter Schwalbe lead the Mustangs placing fifteenth with a time of 28:19. Carter’s teammate Seth Torgerson placed seventeenth with a time of 28:31. The runners did a great job being able to cross the finish line with a decent time. Their next meet is not until October 12th.
