SAN ANGELO, Texas – Colorado State University Pueblo volleyball battled through five sets here Friday evening before falling 3-2 to Minnesota State Moorhead in its second match of the season at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational hosted by Angelo State University inside the Junell Center/Stephens Arena.
The ThunderWolves (1-1), who opened the season with a five-set win earlier Friday against East Central University, won the opening set Friday night 25-13, before MSU Moorhead (1-1) posted a 25-11 win in the second set and a 25-20 win in the third set. The Pack rebounded to win the fourth set 25-19, before falling in the decisive fifth set 15-9 to the Dragons.
Senior right side hitter
Lilly Zwart (Nelson, New Zealand/Western Nebraska CC) led the Pack offensively, tallying a career-high 20 kills and adding three blocks, and hit a team-high .378 for the match. In addition to Zwart, who has recorded 33 kills in the two matches this season and is hitting .346, senior middle blocker
Finja Schul (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany/Western Nebraska CC) added eight kills and three blocks, and sophomore outside hitter/right side hitter
Brianna Pino (Maricopa, Ariz./Maricopa) had seven kills and hit .253 for the match.
CSU Pueblo, who suffered its first five-set loss since the beginning of last season, finished the five-set match with 57 kills and hit .244 on 160 total attacks. The Pack also recorded seven team blocks and 63 digs. MSU-Moorhead countered with 72 kills while hitting .283 and also finished with seven team blocks. The Pack also had five aces to two for the Dragons.
Senior setter
Elena Stankovic (Cajetina, Serbia/Barton County CC) directed the Pack offense once again as the reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Setter of the Year tallied 28 assists and added 12 digs for her second straight double-double to open the 2026 campaign. Senior setter
Kendall Schmitz (Lee's Summit, Mo./Arkansas-Fort Smith) added 15 assists. Defensively, senior libero
Chinaru Pao (Tenri, Japan/Western Colorado) led the Pack with a match-high 24 digs.
The Dragons had four players reach double figures in kills, led by Maci Martini with 17. Raiah Mandell had 13 kills, Miracle Jensen added 12 kills, while Ava Wild finished with 11 kills. Madi Colby had a double-double of 32 assists and 13 aces, and Jensen paced the Dragons' defense with 19 digs.
Set 1: The Pack came out firing in the opening set. After the teams traded points early, the Pack used consecutive service aces from Schul to build a 13-5 advantage and continued to pull away. A Pao ace and a MSU-Moorhead attack error pushed CSU Pueblo's advantage to 19-9 before the Pack eventually reached set point at 24-12. After the Dragons fought off the first set point, senior middle blocker
Andi Nothdurft (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) ended the set with a kill off an assist from Stankovic to give CSU Pueblo the 25-13 victory. In the set, the Pack hit .393 with 13 kills, and MSU-Moorhead hit just .088 with 10 kills.
Set 2: MSU-Moorhead answered quickly in the second set. The Dragons jumped in front 7-2 and stretched the advantage to 14-6. CSU Pueblo pulled within 14-7 following a Moorhead service error, but the Dragons answered with three consecutive points to take a 17-7 lead. The Pack later got two kills from senior outside/right side hitter
Grace Helzer (Pueblo, Colo./Western Colorado) and Schul to cut the deficit to 18-11, but Moorhead scored the final seven points of the set, including two kills and a solo block from Mandell during the closing run, to even the match with a 25-11 victory. The Pack finished the set with eight kills and hit .027, while MSU-Moorhead hit .472 with 18 kills.
Set 3: In the third set, CSU Pueblo grabbed an early 3-0 advantage behind three consecutive kills from Zwart. The Dragons answered and eventually used a 5-0 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 lead. Moorhead maintained the advantage until the Pack mounted a late rally. Trailing 21-13, CSU Pueblo scored four straight points, including back-to-back assisted blocks from Zwart and Nothdurft, to pull within 21-17. Moorhead responded by scoring four of the final seven points, with Wild delivering the set-clinching kill for a 25-20 victory and a 2-1 match lead. The Dragons hit .275 with 16 kills in the set, and the Pack hit .200 with 14 kills.
Set 4: Needing the fourth set to extend the match, the Pack responded. CSU Pueblo trailed 5-2 before scoring three straight points, highlighted by a Zwart kill and an assisted block by freshman opposite-side hitter
Natalie Mobley (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic) and Schul to tie the set at 5-5. Neither team was able to create much separation until CSU Pueblo broke a 9-9 tie and eventually built a 15-11 advantage following a Zwart solo block, another Zwart kill, and a Moorhead attack error. The Pack eventually pushed its lead to 20-13 after back-to-back kills from Mobley and Zwart. MSU Moorhead, though, used a 6-3 run to pull within 23-19 following back-to-back errors by the Pack. Pino and Schmitz would close out the set with back-to-back kills to give the Pack a 25-19 win and force a fifth and final set. The Pack had 16 kills and hit .400 in the set, while Moorhead had 16 kills but hit just .163.
Set 5: In the decisive fifth set, Moorhead scored the first two points before CSU Pueblo answered with a Nothdurft kill. The Dragons eventually built an 8-4 advantage before Zwart's kill cut the deficit to 8-5. Moorhead responded with three of the next four points to take an 11-6 lead. CSU Pueblo continued battling, and a kill from Schmitz helped the Pack pull within 12-8, but the Dragons reached match point on kills from Martini and Wild. An attack error kept CSU Pueblo alive before Martini finished the match with her 17th kill to give Moorhead the 15-9 fifth-set victory and the 3-2 match win. The Pack hit .250 with six kills in the final set, while Moorhead hit .550 with 12 kills.
The Pack will close out play in the two-day event on Saturday, Aug. 29, as they face UT-Permian Basin (2-0) in a 12 p.m. MT match, before concluding action with a 6:30 p.m. MT match against 21st-ranked and tournament host Angelo State (2-0).
