ST. CLOUD, MINN. - Senior Kelsey Boyd recorded her first double double of the season and the University of Mary snapped a 12 game losing streak in a brilliant display of a vicious offense combined with a balanced defense against St. Cloud State University.
 
The Marauders saw a familiar theme early in the first set, with the Huskies jumping out to an early 4-2 lead, but a quick five point run from U-Mary punctuated by three kills, a solo block from Katelyn Olson, and a Husky attack error gave the lead back to the Marauders at 7-4.
 
U-Mary held onto the lead for the rest of the set.
 
After systematically extending their advantage to 17-10, the Huskies tried to capitalize on the Marauders propensity to give up big leads to teams. St. Cloud State fought their way back into the match, narrowing the gap to 18-15 and got as close as 22-21, in favor of the Marauders. After swapping points, with U-Mary holding on to a 23-22 lead, the Marauders finally said enough is enough and put the Huskies away 25-22 in the first set, snapping a streak of 34 straight sets lost.
 
U-Mary was just getting started.
 
The second set started out with the Marauders on top 5-3 early, but a three point run from the Huskies, off two kills and a U-Mary attack error, put St. Cloud State on top 6-5.
 
The Marauders scoffed at the lead change.
 
U-Mary responded with a five-point outburst thanks to two kills, a solo block from Allison Adams, an ace from Alex Brown, and an attack error on behalf of the Huskies to go back up 10-6. Again the Marauders would not give up the lead for the rest of the set.
 
U-Mary had a bit of a scare after they extended their lead to 21-14. The Huskies rallied off a 6-1 run thanks to three kills, an attack error from the Marauders, an ace, and an unforced ball handling error, to narrow the gap at 22-20. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and U-Mary closed out the second set 25-20.
 
The third set is where things got interesting.
 
The two teams fought back and forth through most of the third set. St. Cloud State held the biggest lead at 12-8 but the Marauders kept it close in a set dominated by 12 ties and four lead changes. Something had to give and, unfortunately, it would be U-Mary's attack that stalled.
 
Tied at 19-19, St. Cloud State closed in on the set win after a 4-1 run from two kills, one block and an unforced error from U-Mary, to go up 23-20. The Marauders ran out of gas and the Huskies took set three 25-21.
 
The fourth set started off similar to the third, with three ties and St. Cloud State on top 6-4. The Marauders, however, took advantage of three attack errors and one service error, along with an ace from Boyd and a kill from Lauren Randall, and climbed back on top 10-6.
 
There was no looking back for U-Mary after that.
 
The Marauder got out front by as much as six with a 17-11 advantage, but the Huskies slowly crawled their way back into the match to make it interesting. Getting as close as 19-16, U-Mary decided to put the final nail in the coffin with a four point burst thanks to a kill from Rachel Astrup, an ace from Janell Finkbeiner, and two attack errors from St. Cloud State, to go up 23-16. The Huskies had a last gasp with two points to narrow the deficit to 23-18, but U-Mary kept their heads to the ground and would not stop until the set was in hand at 25-18.
 
Boyd led all Marauders with 17 kills, 49 attacks, 15 digs, one ace and one block assist. Lauren Boldt helped the cause with 13 kills, 33 attacks, two digs and one block assist. Randall rounded out the trio with 12 kills, 28 attacks, a .321 attack percentage, four digs and one block assist.
 
Finkbeiner and Olson split time again directing the offense. Finkbeiner finished with 33 assists, four digs and an ace; it is her third game this season recording at least 30 assists. Olson earned 16 assists along with one kill, one solo block and two block assists.
 
Brown secured the back line again with 28 digs, four assists and an ace; it was her third game recording at least 20 digs. Casey Reamann was active in the back as well with 15 digs, two aces and one assist.
 
Adams was her usual self on the net with one solo block and two block assists. She also added seven kills, 23 attacks, a .217 attack percentage, two aces and two digs.
 
The Marauders (4-18, 1-12 NSIC) are back in Bismarck next weekend for their Alumni Weekend. They will host University of Minnesota, Crookston, on Friday, Oct. 24, and Bemidji State University on Saturday, Oct. 25.