Wildcats hand smack down to second-ranked team

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Joseph Lovercheck, Staff Writer
November 4, 2015

Records were broken and career-highs were set when the Wildcats beat second-ranked Northern State on Friday in Aberdeen, S.D., in a NSIC matchup for the ages. With this win, WSC moves up from sixth-ranked in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Coaches Poll to third.

 
WSC won the match 3-1: 25-18, 25-14, 21-25 and 28-26. The scores were not the biggest part of this very important game for the Wildcats, however.

 
The more impressive numbers were the records broken. Katie Hughes had 25 kills to lead the Wildcats. This match put her over the 1000 career kill mark, making her just the seventh player in school history with more than 1000 kills and more than 1000 digs.

 
Hughes was not the only record breaker in this match for WSC. Leisa McClintock became the career assist leader at WSC. She had 64 assists on the night to put her career total at 4611 assists.

 
Also receiving honors this week was Courtney VanGroningen. She and McClintock were named NSIC players of the week. During the impressive weekend VanGroningen averaged a league best 7.43 digs per set. McClintock also led the NSIC, but she did it in assists. She led the League with 14.71 assists per set.

 
WSC hit fairly well against a formidable opponent in Northern State. The Wildcats hit at a .265 rate while Northern State hit .217.  VanGroningen led the team with 28 digs.

 
On Saturday, the Wildcats faced off against another NSIC opponent, MSU Moorhead. The Wildcats won the match 3-0: 27-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

 
Wayne State hit at a .194 clip, while holding MSU Moorhead to a .099 hitting percentage. The Wildcats were led in kills by Michaela Mestl with 13. McClintock led the team with 39 assists, while VanGroningen had 24 digs.

 
The Wildcat Volleyball team looks to keep the momentum going as their regular season nears its end. Three of WSC’s final five opponents are ranked nationally.

 
The Wildcats move to 22-3 overall and 14-2 in conference play. The Wildcats will take on the match up of the season when they play the top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Minnesota State University-Mankato on Saturday and twelfth-ranked University of Nebraska-Kearney on Tuesday, all at home.