The Wayne State College women’s volleyball team started the day off slow, losing in the first set against Southwest Minnesota State University.  

With a very close first set, SMSU managed to win it 27-25, only beating the Wildcats by two points.  

“We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a battle,” sophomore Maggie Brahmer said.  

WSC fought back by winning the next two sets 25-20 and 25-18. The Mustangs took the fourth set 25-18 and ultimately went to a fifth set and won that 15-13.  

“We have a saying on our team that pressure is a privilege so that 5th set was just another opportunity to grow no matter the outcome,” Brahmer said.  

The Wildcats ended the game with 50 kills and 16 blocks, both led by sophomore middle hitter Taya Beller.  

The Wildcats had a lot of great leaders on the court that helped push through their first lost but one that stood out was junior setter Rachel Walker. Walker single handedly dished out 40 assists, 4 blocks, 6 digs, and had a .571 hitting percentage.  

“No matter the stats though, she led the team fearlessly through the whole game and believed in every single one of us,” Brahmer said.  

Overall, the Wildcats aren’t taking this first loss as a failure but instead turning this into a lesson. 

 “This week in practice we are really going to focus back in, take this loss as a learning opportunity, and make the final push. Sometimes you learn more from a loss than a win and we will do just that,” Brahmer said.  

The WSC women plan on bouncing back and already started focusing on the next game.  

The Wildcats are home next week against Augustana University on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.