ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Cloud State University volleyball team was already flying high entering Saturday's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) match against Minot State University. The #14 Huskies were riding a four-match win streak in NSIC play coming off a dominant 3-1 win over Mary Friday night. It's hard to believe, but St. Cloud State was even better Saturday afternoon, as the team swept Minot State 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-6) to improve to 15-4 overall with a 10-1 mark in NSIC play. 

BUILD THE DAM
The Huskies weren't just good Saturday afternoon. They weren't just great. They were blistering hot both on the offensive and defensive side of the court, as St. Cloud State held the Beavers to a .036 hitting percentage, including a -.143 mark in the third and final set. Why, the first set alone was pure dominance, as the Huskies hit .550 as a team with 12 kills and one error on 20 total attempts. After serving runs from Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake), Rachel Houle (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) and Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) gave St. Cloud State a comfortable 18-11 cushion, Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa / Sergeant Bluff-Luton) went on a run like no other, serving six consecutive points to clinch the 25-11 win for the Huskies. 

It took St. Cloud State a hot second to get going in the second set. In fact, Minot State led 6-5 early in the set, but Abigail Groeneweg (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) set things straight, as her back-to-back aces led to a five point serving run and an 11-6 lead. Though the Beavers would win 17 points total in the set, their scrappy play was no match for St. Cloud State's offensive firepower, as Bella Erne (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) won the set 25-17 with a kill from the right side.

Nothing prepared fans for the third set, where everything and anything went the Huskies way. Strong skills, the aforementioned powerful offense, scrappy defense and a sneaky float serve by Allena Shimon (Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling Catholic) all resulted in a 25-6 third set win and a 3-0 sweep of Minot State.

TOP HUSKIES

• Senior outside Linsey Rachel (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) and junior blocker Phebie Rossi (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) were unstoppable for the Huskies, as they led with eight kills for St. Cloud State. Rossi, in fact, was spectacular, recording eight kills on nine swings for a .889 hitting percentage. 
• As a team, the Huskies recorded 17 blocks against the Beavers, including a team-leading four by Allison Naughton (Des Moines, Iowa / Dowling Catholic).
• Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) closed the match with a team-leading 20 assists, while Abigail Groeneweg  (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) led with 20 digs.

LET'S HIT
St. Cloud State put together one of its best offensive performances of 2021 despite the fact not a single Husky recorded double-digit kills. The Huskies hit .452 as a team, including a .550 clip in the first set with 10 different student-athletes recording at least one kill in the match. In fact, no St. Cloud State players committed more than two hitting errors in the match, and the team committed three total hitting errors in the match against Minot State. 

ROLL OUT THE SWEEPS
Three Huskies won in straight sets for the sixth time this season, with three of their sweeps coming against NSIC opponents. In addition to the Beavers, St. Cloud State swept #5 SMSU in late September and Minnesota State on Saturday, October 2, meaning all three of the team's 3-0 victories in conference play have occurred in Halenbeck Hall.

UP NEXT
St. Cloud State hits the road for a short stretch of time, as the team is scheduled to play (RV) Northern State and MSU-Moorhead October 22 and 23. 

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.