BISMARCK, ND - The University of Mary (7-6, 2-2 NSIC) jumped off to a hot start but No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State won the last three sets of the match to secure a 3-1 (25-23, 11-25, 11-25 and 17-25) victory over the Marauders Friday, Sept. 23.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Randall recorded eight of her 17 kills in the first set to claim the set victory but the Mustangs (9-3, 3-1 NSIC) started set two on fire. SMSU took a commanding 9-2 lead in the second to after a Taylor Reiss kill. The sophomore outside hitter finished with match-high 23 kills and 12 digs for the Mustangs.

Mary tried to start a comeback in the set, trailing 14-8 but the Mustangs wouldn't give up the lead and received a set winning kill from Reiss to tie the match at 1-1.

The Marauders quickly turned it around and scored the first four points in the third set to take the 4-0 lead but quickly found themselves trailing 9-6 after a Eisha Oden kill. The Mustangs scored five straight points to take the 15-8 lead in the middle of the set and the Marauders failed to score points late as SMSU held Mary to 11 points for the second consecutive set.

In the fourth and final set the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents fought back-and-forth throughout the set.

Both teams were tied at 10-10 in the middle of the set but the Mustangs climbed to a 17-13 lead after a Reiss kill. Mary took a timeout but it didn't seem to help as the Mustangs rattled off the next three points. Leading 20-13, SMSU held on for the set win 25-17 to win its third NSIC match.

SMSU finished with a .394 hitting percentage as the Marauders hit .350 in the first set but failed to hit over .110 in any of the final three sets.

Thayna Silva finished with eight kills and 16 digs for the Marauders. Rachel Astrup chipped in seven of her own kills, teammate Alex Brown lead the Marauders in digs with 22 and Janell Finkbeiner collected 30 assists.

Mary will try to earn its third conference victory of the season at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the McDowell Activity Center.