ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Top-seeded tournament host St. Cloud State ended the Northern State volleyball program’s NSIC tournament run with a decisive 3-0 semifinals sweep of the Wolves Saturday evening at Halenbeck Hall, winning by set scores of 25-21, 25-15 and 25-19.

The Wolves, who had picked up their first quarterfinals victory in more than four years in a five-set thriller over Southwest Minnesota State earlier in the week, came into Saturday’s semifinals ranked ninth in the NCAA’s Central Region poll, which is used to determine teams for the region and national tournaments.

The Huskies held the advantage in nearly every statistical category, including a 20-10 edge in first-set kills.

“They were good,” admitted Northern State head coach Brent Aldridge. “And they’re good on their home court. … We just couldn’t produce any offense.”

The Wolves, in fact, did not have a player that reached double-digit kill totals. Hanna Thompson and Natalia Szybinska had seven kills apiece to pace Northern. Morrisen Samuels added six. Abby Meister finished with 10 digs, and Keri Walker notched 26 assists.

“I thought we played hard, but we gave back too many free balls,” Aldridge said.

Despite the loss, the Wolves still remain in contention for a region tournament berth. Those selections will be announced on Monday.

“We’ve still got a shot, I think,” Aldridge said. “If we hadn’t beaten Wayne (State) and Southwest (Minnesota State), there’s probably no hope. We did what we needed to do, winning in the first round. Then we ran into someone who was way more physical than us.”

To see a complete box score of the match, click on the following link: