BISMARCK, N.D. - Looking to recapture the magic from the previous night, the University of Mary Volleyball team took on #4 Southwest Minnesota State University tonight for U-Mary's Halloween Costumes Night.
 
The spooky costumes peppered throughout the crowd weren't enough to scare the visitor as the Marauders (10-15, 5-11 NSIC) had a dominant showing in the first set but couldn't maintain the momentum through the rest of the match as the Mustangs (21-3, 14-2 NSIC) galloped to a four-set win (25-20, 11-25, 8-25, 10-25).
 
U-Mary opened up the first set with an impressive 5-2 run thanks to a team block from Elizabeth Garcia and Lauren Randall, a kill each from Randall and Rachel Astrup, a Mustang error, and a Katelyn Olson service ace that put Southwest Minnesota State right on their heels.
 
The Mustangs responded almost immediately, though, with a strong 5-1 run to take the lead at 7-6, but the Marauders came right back with five of the next seven points off two Thayna Silva kills and three Mustang errors to retake the lead at 11-9.
 
After Southwest Minnesota State tied the set at 11-11, U-Mary put together another strong showing on offense and defense with a 5-1 run off one kill each from Randall and Astrup, a solo block from Astrup, a team block from Astrup and Freddie Campbell, and a Mustang error to build up a cushion at 16-12.
 
The teams traded points back-and-forth from there with the Marauders holding the edge at 21-16 late in the set, but the Mustangs started to close in as they narrowed the gap down to 22-19 in favor of the home team. U-Mary held fast, however, as Randall and Campbell provided a kill each to go with yet another Astrup solo block to seal the first set win at 25-20.
 
The set win was the first for U-Mary in 16 matches against Southwest Minnesota State as the Mustangs have swept every meeting between the teams dating back to when the Marauders first made the transition to Division-II in 2006.
 
Unfortunately for the Marauders, there were still at least two more sets to be played against the fourth-ranked team in the country that upset #2 Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., last week.
 
Southwest Minnesota State demonstrated their powerful offense starting in the second set as they fired off a 18-1 run after the Marauders took a 3-1 lead in the opening sequences of the set.
 
Down 19-4 after such a quick rally, U-Mary put together a 4-1 run off two kills from Alexis Jacobs, to go with a kill from Garcia and a team block from Olson and Garcia, in the hopes of stopping the shift in momentum late in the set. It made little difference as Southwest Minnesota State cruised to a 25-11 win in the second set to even up the match score.
 
The Marauders appeared to have their offense back in gear as they hung with the Mustangs early on in the third set with Southwest Minnesota State holding the lead at 7-6. The Mustangs started to pull away as they scored six of the next eight points to extend the lead out to 13-8, but that would be the last point U-Mary would score in the set as the Mustangs closed on a 12-0 run that kept the Marauders off-balance for the eventual 25-8 decision.
 
The fourth set started off similar to the third with U-Mary sticking close behind Southwest Minnesota State at 6-5, but the Mustangs methodically pulled away in the set behind one of the most potent offenses in the country as they put together a 4-1 and a 8-1 run on consecutive rallies to build up the cushion at 18-7.
 
The Marauders tried to get something going in the late portion of the match but nothing would fall right for them as the Mustangs ended the match on two long rallies that were punctuated by a kill and a Marauder error to make the score 25-10 final.
 
Lauren Randall led the offense for U-Mary as she ended up with seven kills and one block assist on the match.
 
Alexis Jacobs was right with her with seven kills of her own along with one dig.
 
Thayna Silva recorded four kills on the night to go with five digs.
 
Elizabeth Garcia ended with three kills, one solo block and two block assists, as well as two digs, for another all-around performance.
 
Rachel Astrup had a solid night on the front of the net as she ended up with two solo blocks to go with two block assists and two kills.
 
Alex Brown anchored the back line as she finished with 12 digs on the night; while Casey Reamann helped her out with four digs of her own.
 
The Marauders will stay in Bismarck next week for their final pair of home matches as they take on St. Cloud State University on Friday, November 6, at 7:00 PM for Parent's Night, before hosting the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, November 7, at 4:00 PM for Senior Night.
 
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