WSC volleyball’s hopes of qualifying for the NSIC tournament that starts on Nov. 6 increased greatly over the last couple weeks, as the Wildcats have won six of their last seven matches to improve their record to 19-6 on the season and 11-5 in conference play. Wins over Bemidji State, Minnesota Crookston, Augustana, MSU Moorhead, U-Mary and Minot State since Oct. 5, opposed to just one loss in that span to Northern State, have put the Wildcats in great position to finish amongst the top eight teams in the NSIC.

“Our ball control has gotten better,” head coach Scott Kneifl said. “Our serve-receive and our first contact has allowed us to do some really good things offensively and our defense has picked up as well. We feel like we’re starting to find our groove and hopefully we can continue that the rest of the season.”

On Oct. 5, the Wildcats hosted Bemidji State, cruising to a straight-set victory (25-11, 25- 16, 25-13). Lengthy scoring runs in each set from WSC proved too much for Bemidji State. The ’Cats jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set one, and the Beavers were never able to recover, dropping the first set 25-11. The second set provided a similar outcome, as the Wildcats never looked back after gaining a 17-7 lead, taking the second set 25-16.

The third and final set started off differently, as both teams went back and forth before six straight WSC points earned them a 12-8 advantage. That momentum caried the Wildcats the remainder of the set, resulting in a 25-13 set win, and a 3-0 sweep to improve their season record to 14-5. Freshman outside hitter Katie Stephens led the Wildcats with 11 kills and freshman middle hitter/right side hitter Jaci Brahmer added eight kills of her own.

The Wildcats were back at Rice Auditorium the next day to host Minnesota Crookston, and again came away with a straight-set win (25-7, 25-10, 25-14). The Golden Eagles had no answer for WSC in the first set, as the Wildcats forced eight Crookston attack errors en route to a 25-7 set win. Sophomore libero Maddy Duffy and senior setter Megan Gebhardt combined for five aces in the second set to lead the ’Cats to a 25-10 win. WSC used a strong offensive attack in the third set, posting 15 kills and a .302 attack percentage to take the third set 25-14 for their second consecutive 3-0 triumph to improve their record to 15-5. Sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Ballenger posted 13 kills for the Wildcats to lead the offensive attack, while junior middle hitter Tarrin Beller tallied 12 kills.

Black Out Night on Oct. 9 brought another 3-0 Wildcat victory, with Augustana being the victims of a third straight WSC sweep (25-16, 25-23, 25- 20). After a back-and-forth start to the first set and the score knotted at 5-5, Wayne State scored five of the next six to force an Augustana timeout. A potent offensive attack extended the lead to 19-12 to force another Viking timeout, but the deficit proved insurmountable for Augustana, and the Wildcats were able to close out the first set 25-16. The second set provided 14 ties and six lead changes, but with the score knotted at 23 apiece, Ballenger recorded a kill which was followed by an Augustana error, giving the ’Cats a 25-23 second set victory. The third set was also tightly contested, as Augustana cut the Wildcat lead to as little as three after trailing 17-11. WSC was able to shut the door late, closing out the Vikings 25-20 in the third and final set to improve their record to 16- 5. Ballenger posted a career-high 15 kills and Stephens posted 11 of her own. It was a milestone evening for Gebhardt, as she became the 5th player in WSC history to reach 3,000 career assists.

“It [Gebhardt’s milestone] is just absolutely incredible,” Kneifl said. “She’s just had a phenomenal career and to think where she was three years ago to where she is today is extremely exciting. She’s obviously done a lot of great things on the court for us but off the court as well. Being an Academic All-American is something that’s really special. She’s had a fabulous career.”

On Oct. 12, WSC traveled to Abeerden, South Dakota to take on the current number one team in the country, Northern State. The Wildcats took a 3-0 defeat (25-22, 25-20, 25-14) in which the first two sets were kept close but there was not enough of an answer for Northern State’s formidable offensive attack. The Wildcats fell behind 8-1 in the first set but were able to grind back to eventually even the score at 20-20.

NSU was able to hold off the late WSC push and close out the first 25-22. A hard-fought second set with an abundance of lead changes had the Wildcats in front towards the end of the set but another late scoring surge from NSU gave them a 25-20 set win and a 2-0 deficit for WSC. NSU’s .457 hitting percentage was too much for the ’Cats in the third set, as WSC fell 25-14, dropping their record to 16-6. Stephens led the WSC attack with 13 kills and Ballenger and Beller had eight apiece.

WSC rebounded the next day, as they traveled east into Minnesota and defeated MSU Moorhead 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-12). After a 10-7 first-set deficit, WSC ripped off six straight points to grab a 13-10 advantage and proceeded to win the set 25-18. The Wildcats again rallied from a deficit in the second set, scoring nine of the last 10 points to win set two by a score of 25-20. WSC found themselves in no such hole in the third set, scorching to a 19-2 lead and finishing off the set 25-12 to complete the victory. The sweep improved the Wildcats’ record to 17-6 on the season. Stephens again led the ’Cats with a match-high 15 kills while Ballenger recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs. Gebhardt had a doubledouble of her own with 40 assists and 14 digs.

“We’re best when we’re balanced,” Kneifl said. “On any given night, certain players are going to have to step up and be that go-to player depending on what they’re giving us on the other side of the net. We have a bunch of players who can step up and be that player, so hopefully we can continue that balance and have players step up where need be.”

Last Friday, the Wildcats returned home to host U-Mary and came away with another 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-11, 25-12). WSC scored the first five points of the match, riding that momentum to grab an eventual 16-4 advantage. That lead was simply too much for the Marauders to overcome, as the ’Cats closed out the set 25-12. The Wildcats fell behind 5-3 early in the second but responded with a 6-0 run to gain a 9-5 advantage. Solid defense led the way for WSC the remainder of the set, as they held U-Mary to a .000 attack percentage and won set two comfortably, 25-11. Another solid defensive showing in the third set proved too much for the Marauders, as WSC took the third 25-12 to finish the sweep and improve their season record to 18-6. Stephens and Brahmer had 12 and seven kills respectively while Gebhardt recorded 27 assists.

WSC won their third straight match last Saturday with a sweep of Minot State (25-12, 25-7, 25-15) to improve to 19-6 on the year. The Wildcats forced 10 Minot State attack errors and never trailed in a 25-12 set one victory. The second set saw the Wildcats record five service aces and just one error on the offensive attack en route to a dominant 25-7 win in set two. The third set saw a familiar theme as the first two, as the Wildcats forced another 10 attack errors from Minot State on their way to a 25-15 win and another sweep.

The Wildcats are currently 11-5 in conference play, which is tied for 5th in the NSIC with Sioux Falls. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC Tournament that begins on Nov. 6.

“We just have to grind it out,” Kneifl said. “We have four really tough matches in-conference. Hopefully we can just battle day in and day out the remainder of the season and try to really make some noise once we get to the conference tournament.”

The Wildcats host Winona State on Friday night at 6 p.m. and return to action the next day at Rice Auditorium to face off against Upper Iowa at 4 p.m.