Wayne State College volleyball went on the road this week going 2-0 against conference opponents in the Sioux Falls Cougars and the previously ninth ranked Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. The two wins increased the Wildcats overall record to 11-1 and their conference record to 3-0. 

“Anytime you can go on the road in this league and win two matches, you know you did great.” Wildcat Head Coach Scott Kneifl said. 

The first match on WSC’s road stand was a matchup at the University of Sioux Falls on Friday, September 22.  The Wildcats went into USF and swept the Cougars in three sets with outside hitter Channatee Robles leading the offensive charge with 13 kills, a season-high for her. Additionally, Maggie Brahmer and Kelsie Cada had 10 kills each. 

“Yeah, Chachi [Chanatee Robles] just keeps getting better and better and hats off to our passers for passing in system and Rachel for getting the ball,” Kneifl said. “Our pins are getting a lot of balls one-on-one and Chachi and Kelsie are doing a great job of handling those balls. It doesn’t really matter if there’s four hands in their face, they’re both capable of getting a kill.” 

The Wildcats got out to a 15-14 lead in the second set and didn’t look back. They never trailed again on their way to a sweep in their first road game of the conference schedule. 

Wayne State continued the weekend going further north to play the previously ninth ranked Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs on Saturday, September 23. 

The Wildcats went down 2-1 sets to begin the match but turned it around winning the final two sets 25-16 and 15-4.  

“You know , I’d like to say we settled in, but I mean our defensive effort was great,” Kneifl said. “We started getting some positive touches on the blog, started digging some balls, and staying aggressive at the net really helped as well. But you know, it’s just one of those things where it just flipped, and I told our girls after the match that it felt next level. I mean, there was something special about that last set and a half and if we can play at that level against anyone, people are going to have a hard time beating us.” 

Rachel Walker and Jordan McCormick led the defensive effort for the Wildcats, recording 19 and 15 digs respectively. 

“Rachel really stepped up and Jordan had a good game as well,” Kneifl said.  

On the offensive side of the ball the Wildcats were led by Maggie Brahmer who had 20 kills.  

“I mean, we always want to feed the hot players, you know, feed the monster that’s what we always say and she’s a monster,” Kneifl said. “Without a doubt, Maggie’s one of the best competitors we’ve ever had go through our program. That kid competes on every point and her desire to win is second to none. It’s always fun to see her succeed and she had a great game that day.” 

Wayne State left the weekend with two away conference wins to push their record to 3-0 in conference and keep them atop the NSIC standings.  

“Southwest Minnesota State especially, I mean, their fans were into it,” Coach Kneifl said. “They were heckling and giving us the business. It’s always nice to be able to shut up people like that and walk out of there with a win.” 

The Wildcats are back in action against two top 10 teams this weekend. They travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota to take on the sixth ranked St. Cloud State Huskies on Friday, September 29 and Duluth, Minnesota to match up with the tenth ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Saturday, September 30.