M State Volleyball Team Takes Third in National Tournament

The M State volleyball team brought home some hardware from the NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Rochester, finishing third with a 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23) victory over SUNY-Broome on Saturday afternoon.

The lady Spartans got off to a fast start as Brooke Hovland recorded 7 of her team high 13 kills in the first set and Bailey Marty served up 5 of her 7 aces. After dropping the second set M State came back with a thrilling win in the third set as Emily Condon got hot on the outside with 5 of her 11 kills occurring in the third set. The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle with Kaia Strom serving up game and match point to lift the Spartans to the win. Strom had 33 set assists, 65 digs and 2 ace serves. Marty and Jayna Gronewold led the defensive effort with 25 and 18 digs, respectively. Avery Wanner had 10 digs and Condon contributed 8. Alaina Anderson had 2 solo blocks, an assisted block and 3 kills. Emily Dehler had 5 kills. SUNY-Broome was led by Macey Gibson (15 kills, 9 digs), Sara Zepkowski (14 kills, 2 solo blocks, 3 block assists), Mackenzie Struble (43 set assists, 20 digs, 2 aces, 4 kills), Brianna Rossi (17 digs), Megan Carden (13 digs) and Savannah Davis (11 digs, 4 set assists).

"I'm so proud of the team and everything they accomplished this weekend," said head volleyball coach Abby Crowser. "Everyone worked so hard this season and being able to compete at the National Tournament was memory we will never forget. Not every team gets to know what game will be their last of the season, so heading into the third place match on Saturday, we wanted to make sure to end the season on a high note. Being able to complete the season with a win and 3rd place finish at Nationals was a great way to close out the 2021 season. Every player showed tremendous determination, grit and camaraderie all season long and I couldn't have asked for a better team to coach."

M State ends the season with a 21-6 record.