MINOT, N.D. - Paying a visit to their upstate rivals, the University of Mary Volleyball team traveled north for a showdown with Minot State University to continue the conference schedule.
 
The match was a constant back and forth affair, but the Marauders (6-6, 1-2 NSIC) proved victorious as they outlasted the Beavers (3-7, 0-3 NSIC) in five sets with U-Mary's best attackers paving the way for the win.
 
The first set proved to be an appetizer for the night as the two teams traded points back and forth early on en route to a 10-10 tie. Minot State broke through first as they jumped out to a 12-10 lead and rode the momentum to a 17-15 advantage midway through the set.
 
The Marauders got the offense rolling at that point as they scored eight of the next nine points thanks to four kills, a service ace, a team block and two Beaver errors to secure a 23-18 lead. Minot State wouldn't go quietly, however, as they rallied off three straight points to close the gap at 23-21, yet U-Mary proved their resiliency with a Lauren Randall kill and a team block from Elizabeth Garcia and Thayna Silva to close the first set out at 25-21, giving the Marauders a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Beavers bounced right back as they began the second set with a 7-2 lead, but the Marauders fought right back thanks to six kills, a service ace, and a Minot State error to tie the score at 10 apiece. It was now Minot State's turn to open up the scoring as they registered six of the next seven points from four kills and two Marauder errors to re-extend their lead back to 16-11.
 
The Beavers built on that run up to 12-3 with four more kills and two service aces to put U-Mary deep into a 22-13 hole. The Marauders did well to fight back with a 4-1 run from two kills and a Minot State error to close the gap at 23-17, but couldn't overcome their mistakes as the Beavers took the second set off another U-Mary error and a service ace to tie the match at one set each.
 
Minot State opened up the third set with a commanding 5-1 lead, but the Marauders' offense found the next gear as they scored eight unanswered points thanks to four kills, a service ace, a team block and two Beaver errors to swing the lead in U-Mary's favor at 9-5. Minot State threw a wrench into the system to keep the score close at 10-8, in favor of the Marauders, but U-Mary was persistent in holding on to the lead with three kills and another service ace for a solid 14-8 lead.
 
The Beavers would battle back as they narrowed U-Mary's lead to 17-15 and ended up tying the set at 23-23, but the Marauders turned to their transfer from Brazil as Thayna Silva followed up a Minot State service error with a set-ending kill to give U-Mary a 2-1 lead in the match at 25-23.
 
The fourth set was a tale of two teams with the Beavers holding an early 8-3 lead, but U-Mary continued to prove their mettle with a 4-1 run off a kill, a team block and two Minot State errors to narrow the deficit to 9-7.
 
The Beavers maintained their energy with a 7-2 run from three kills, three U-Mary errors and a team block to put the Marauders at an uncomfortable 16-9 disadvantage. The Marauders would not go away quietly as they clawed their way back into the set with five kills, three from Silva, and one each from Alexis Jacobs and Rachel Astrup to stay hot on Minot State's heels at 18-14.
 
However, Minot's offense found another gear as they ended the set on a 7-1 run from three kills, three U-Mary errors and a team block to tie the match at two sets with a 25-15 fourth set win, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
 
The Beavers seemingly had the same drive going into the final set with an early 4-1 lead, but two Marauder kills, combined with a Garcia solo block and two Minot State errors allowed U-Mary to tie the set at 6-6.
 
Minot State held onto the lead with two quick points at 9-7, but the difference maker finally came through with two Randall kills, one Jacobs kill and a Katelyn Olson service ace that gave U-Mary four unanswered points and an 11-9 lead. The Beavers proved difficult to close out as they tied the set at 11-11, but Jacobs and Silva each added another kill to their totals, in addition to a Minot State error, to put U-Mary on the brink of a win at 14-11.
 
There was one last gasp in the match for the Beavers as they had another kill, but Silva felt that the match had gone on long enough as her final kill of the night was the decider that gave the Marauders a 15-12 win in the final set and a pleasant ride home with their first conference win of the year.
 
Silva lead all Marauders with 18 kills on 49 attacks for a .224 hitting percentage. She also added 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the year, two assists, one ace and one block assist.
 
Randall supplemented the offense with 12 kills on 31 attacks for a .221 hitting percentage in addition to one block assist.
 
Jacobs recorded her third double-double of the year with 12 kills and 17 digs to go with three block assists; it was also her seventh straight game with double digit kills.
 
Katelyn Olson split time with Geovana Almeida driving the offense as Olson finished with 27 assists and Almeida ended up with 16. Almeida added two service aces, a solo block, a block assist, two digs and two kills to her total, while Olson recorded five digs, one service ace and a kill.
 
Alex Brown provided the defensive presence by leading the team with 24 digs and added three assists and one service ace to her total on the night.
 
Garcia was the first on the net as she ended the match with five block assists and one solo block in addition to three kills.
 
The Marauders will have their next match on Friday, September 25, at 7 PM, when they host the University of Minnesota-Crookston at the McDowell Activity center for the first of the weekend matches.
 
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