BEMIDJI, MINN. -- Earning win No. 600 in school history, the Bemidji State (12-12, 4-4 NSIC) volleyball team rebounded from a tough loss last night and took down SW Minnesota State (13-8, 4-4 NSIC), 3-1, at the BSU Gymnasium. Scores were 30-28, 23-30, 30-18, 30-26.

The 12 victories on the season marks the most since the 1999 club tallied 25. SMSU entered the week No. 6 in the North Central Region.

“The girls were ready to get after it and take it to this team,” said head coach Kim Falkenhagen. “Southwest is a mirror image of us. We had to fight point-for-point today.”

The Beavers jumped on the Mustangs early in game one, after junior Kristin Smith compiled one of her two service aces on the match to close out an 11-5 run. SMSU crawled back, using a 8-3 run forcing BSU into a time-out. The score stood 24-23 at that point. However, two knock-downs by junior Heather Haugen started a 4-0 run that gave the hosts the momentum as senior Lisa Smith ended the game with one of her season-high 21 kills.

“ Lisa Smith played really well,” said Falkenhagen. “That was the Smith we were waiting for to come out of her shell all season long.

“ Also, Haugen kept the intensity up real high. You could see that she wanted it.”

Game two saw SW Minnesota State take a 10-9 advantage after Bemidji State notched 10 of the first 13 points. The Beavers could not muster a big enough rally after the guests reeled off six of seven as the score stood 22-16 in favor of SMSU. The Beavers cut the margin to 20-24 but SMSU was too much scoring six of the final nine.

After intermission, Bemidji State came out a little flat, falling behind 5-7. Thanks to three kills by Haugen, the Beavers answered back as they took a 14-10 advantage. From that point, the BSU defense allowed only eight Mustang points while scoring 16 of its own. Haugen and Lisa Smith hammered down a block to end the scoring and give BSU a 2-1 game advantage.

Bemidji State trailed for much of game four, seeing its first lead at 23-22. A 9-3 BSU run got the hosts to that mark. After a brief 24-23 Mustang lead, a block assist by senior Kristin Peterson and Haugen sparked a 7-2 match-ending run.

BSU held SW Minnesota State to a .179 (61-31-168) hitting mark while earning a .253 tally. Also, Bemidji State held a 9.5-7.5 blocking edge and 11-9 service aces advantage.

Lisa Smith led all performers with 21 kills. Haugen ended with 17 and five blocks while Peterson added 15 kills and 10 digs, her third straight double-double and ninth in 12 matches. Kristin Smith recorded 49 assists and junior Kristine Engman posted a team-high 16 digs. It was the sixth consecutive double-digit dig effort for Engman.

Lisa Lunde and Jen Otto totaled 17 kills apiece for the Mustangs. Sheena Devine had 54 assists and 13 digs while Heather Smith posted a game-high 21 digs.

Bemidji State opens up the second half of the conference slate with a busy week. First, it travels to Northern State for a Tuesday match, scheduled at 7:00 p.m. Then, the Beavers host Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and Winona State on Saturday. First-serve on Friday is set for 6:00 p.m. while the match against WSU is 3:00 p.m.


NOTE: Bemidji State brings the all-time series to 31-39 in favor of the Mustangs - the Beavers have won the last two meetings at home as the win last year had SMSU ranked regionally...Winning No. 600 in school history, Bemidji State sits 600-567-6 (.514) in 35 seasons of volleyball...BSU pushes its total of 10+ service aces in a match in 2003 to nine - the most since the 2001 team totaled the same amount...Kristin Peterson pushed her double-double amount on the season to 13 and career total to 26, both are tops on the active players list...Lisa Smith’s season-high in kills before today was 16 vs. St. Cloud State (8/29/03)...SW Minnesota State is on a two-match losing streak as it dropped a 3-1 decision to Minnesota-Crookston last night for the first time in school history.