ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Minot State University's second day at the Locos Grill Transition Tournament was a roller coaster.

The Beavers survived a 2-1 deficit in their final pool play match before winning in five to qualify for the semifinals. MSU only scored nine points in set one of the semifinal with the University of Sioux Falls, only to rally win the match.

MSU played good and bad volleyball, but in the end fought off all adversity to reach the championship of their year-end tournament by virtue of a 3-1 (9-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17) win over future Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Sioux Falls Friday at Hyland Arena.

“We didn't play all that well earlier in the day and obviously in the first one, but turned it around for the final three to give ourselves a shot (at the championship,” said MSU head coach Travis Ward. “We clinched a winning season, which was a big thing for the girls and this program and it feels like we have a lot of good things happening.”

The Cougars came into the match as the No. 1 seed from Pool A and continued to play great volleyball in the first set. USF had 16 kills on just 32 attempts and made two errors. But the errors piled up from there as the Cougars had 13 hitting errors over the final two sets.

The Beavers' turnaround in the semifinal was impressive as MSU hit for a negative percentage in set 1. MSU had seven errors in the first set and just 11 the rest of the way. In fact, the Beavers had just one hitting error in set 4.

“We played a lot better defense, that's where it started,” Ward said. “And, they (Sioux Falls) struggled a little more after the first set. We had seven errors in the first set and only 18 total. We just got better as we went on.”

MSU (18-15) also scored points in bunches on Friday off a solid serve. The Beavers finished with nine aces in each match, getting six from sophomore Jen Dixon (OH, Brandon, Manitoba) in the semifinal against Sioux Falls.

Emily Johnson paced the Cougars (14-27) with 14 kills, while Chandra Goedken added 12 kills. Stephanie Moller finished with 23 assists and Tashayla Person led the USF defense with 17 digs.

Janice Rose Reinbolt (Sr., MH, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) had a fantastic match as she finished with a 15 kills and five block assists. Jaylene Koski (Fr., OH, Humboldt, Saskatchewan) finished with 13 kills and Dixon added 11 kills to her team-high 15 digs and six aces. Emily Byrne (Fr., S, Reno, Nev.) had another solid match with 41 assists and 14 digs for MSU while Brittany Thingstad (R-Fr., L, Velva, N.D.) finished with 13 digs and three assists.

“Jaylene and Janice really played big for us down the stretch,” Ward said. “Brittany was really the only change we made, bringing her in to play libero.
“It really came down to desire. We had three players in double figures digs after having just three total digs in the first set.”

The Beavers move on to the championship match against the winner of the Lindenwood University/William Jewell semifinal Saturday at 2 p.m.