BISMARCK, N.D. - Kelsey Boyd and Lauren Boldt both reached double digit kills, Allison Adams set a new University of Mary Division II solo block record, but it didn't matter as Winona State University held on to win the match in four sets after too many unforced errors spelt doom for U-Mary.
 
The team honored parents that made it to the last home weekend of the year for the Marauders before the match, and the players fed off the energy as the squad was firing on all cylinders in the first set. An early 6-1 run from U-Mary coming off two kills, a team block, and three Warrior errors forced Winona State to take an early timeout. The Marauders wouldn't slow down, though, as they kept a cushion at 12-5 midway through the set.
 
The Warriors closed the gap to 12-9 off a 4-0 run from two kills, an ace, and a Marauder error; but U-Mary matched Winona State point-for-point en route to a 13-11 advantage favoring the Marauders. U-Mary widened their lead to 19-13 thanks to five kills and a Warrior error.
 
After the Marauders kept their lead at 21-15, Winona State fired off three quick kills to jump back into the match at 21-18.  Boyd and Boldt decided that wasn't going to matter as they combined for the next three kills to put U-Mary on the brink of a first set victory at 24-18. A bad service from the Marauders became a hiccup, because Boldt would not let the set slip away as she drove home the exclamation point for the final kill in a 25-19 first set victory.
 
Unfortunately, the offense stalled in the second set.
 
The Warriors regained the momentum and jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, forcing the Marauders to use both of their timeouts early in the set. It did little to slow down the Warrior attack as they continued to build their lead to 15-4, then 21-8, finally putting the nail in the coffin at 25-11.
 
U-Mary started to rebound in the third set, flipping an early 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 advantage and kept the lead all the way until 10-8. Yet Winona State adjusted their look and fired off two quick kills, notched a team block, and capitalized off a Marauder error to jump ahead in the set 12-10.
 
The Marauders played catch up from there as they close the gap to 12-11, but that would be the closest they would get in the rest of the set. Winona State stayed ahead at 14-11 and the teams traded the next few points back and forth, which ended with the Warriors on top at 19-16. Winona State closed in on a third set victory at 22-17, but the Marauders had one last gasp in them to fight back to 24-21. It didn't matter and the Warriors took the third set 25-21.
 
The fourth set had shades of the earlier Marauder offense, as there were six ties and two lead changes en route to a 9-7 Winona State lead. At this point, the Marauder offense ran out of gas and the Warriors tallied six kills while U-Mary had three unforced errors to give Winona State a 18-7 lead. The Marauder tried to get back into the set with two points of their own to regain some momentum at 18-9, but it was not enough as the Warriors closed out the match on a 7-0 run from four kills, a team block and two more U-Mary errors to win the set 25-9.
 
Boyd finished the match leading the Marauder offense earning 14 kills, 36 attacks, a .278 attack percentage, and was a force to be reckoned with on the defense with eight digs and three block assists. Boldt was right behind her with 12 kills, 32 attacks and four block assists.
 
Janell Finkbeiner spent most of the match directing the offense with 27 assists and five digs. While Alex Brown anchored the back line with 15 digs and added some offense of her own with three assists, one kill and one ace.
 
Adams was a monster on the net tonight; she earned two solo blocks and seven block assists, a feat she has accomplished four other times in her career. She also finished with two digs and three kills.
 
The Marauderes (4-24, 1-18 NSIC) finish their season on Saturday, Nov. 8, when they play host to Upper Iowa University.