New Ulm, MN - The MLC volleyball team picked up a win in front of a loud and electric crowd on Friday evening, downing Crown College 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 28-26). With the win, MLC has now won 11 consecutive matches against Crown, dominating its conference series with the Polars in recent memory.

The opening set of the night was a seesaw battle between both teams as it was tightly contested throughout, including 17 ties and eight lead changes. The set concluded with a pair of kills from Maggie Bettin and Lydia Feidt to sway the momentum on the Knights' side to go up 1-0.

The Knights eased into the match and had a comfortable lead throughout the second set, taking down the Polars by nearly double digits with it ending on a Feidt service ace. 

The third set looked as if Crown would come out on top to extend the match into a fourth set between the schools, but MLC was fueled by a raucous environment and didn't let that happen, overcoming an early deficit to complete the sweep. MLC trailed by five points on three separate occasions during the set, but refused to back down and eventually outlasted the Polars thanks to a couple of kills from freshmen Kiara Humann and Greta Nolte.

Kourtney Zech had the best game of her collegiate career, leading the Knights with 18 assists and Ella Walz (16 digs, 15 assists) and Feidt (15 kills, 15 digs) each recorded a double-double. Anna Kieselhorst tied a team best with 16 digs and Nolte notched 10 kills to add to the cause.

As a team, the Knights had a big advantage in kills 46-27, assists 40-24, and digs 82-66.

MLC won its first conference match of the season and will aim to have another successful match tomorrow when they take on Minnesota Morris at home for a 1 p.m. opening serve.