Sioux Falls, S.D. - Western Illinois volleyball was down two sets at the beginning of the match at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. against South Dakota State Sunday (Sept. 29) before they rallied for a five-set comeback victory (19-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-11, 15-13).

"Anytime you go down 2-0 you know you are going to have to dig deep and keep fighting, " said coach Ben Staupe. "They did exactly that. The team stayed positive, decreased errors, and played for each other."

The Leatherneck block yet again paved the way for the victory with 15 team blocks to the Jackrabbit's seven. This effort was lead by Mariah Mitchell and Mackenzie Steckler who both ended the game with seven total blocks.

With a slow start to the match, Western was unable to gain a sustainable lead in the first set despite a late push back by leading scorer Mitchell and an ace by JoJo Kruize the Leathernecks dropped set one.

Down early in the second set, WIU put themselves in a position to take the lead with a seven-point run fueled two kills from Madeline Dieter. Western fought to keep the advantage until WIU set point, where the Jackrabbits were able to go on a three-point run to capture set two.

South Dakota State with the two-set advantage going into the third was met by the aggressive front row effort of Mitchell and Seckler to start the third. With a Western block from Aubrey Putman and Steckler, the Leathernecks tied the game a 13-13. Western was in control for the remainder of the match, taking set three.

Still down 2-1 in the fourth, Western dominated the fourth set from the start with a 7-1 lead. Dieter making a major impact in the fourth set with back-to-back kills holding the Jackrabbits at 17-4 for the biggest lead of the match. Western finished the set keeping South Dakota State at 11 and tied the match at 2-2 sending it into five sets.

Leathernecks with the momentum going into the fifth, WIU was the first team to five points with a kill from Mitchell assisted by Gabby DePersio. Followed by consecutive kills out of the hands of Cassie Hunt, as the teams switched sides and the Jackrabbits were able to sneak in a few points to tie the game at 9-9. This run was quickly stopped by a solo block from Dieter and the Leathernecks were able to hold their lead for the remainder of the match taking a second consecutive victory from South Dakota State after their last pairing at the end of Summit League play last year.

The WIU victory was led by Mitchell finishing the game with 14 kills on 35 attempts hitting at .343 along with her 7 total blocks. Two Leathernecks finished the game recording double-doubles; Jessie Connell recording 23 assists and 13 digs along with Kruize recording 13 kills and 11 digs.

Western volleyball is back on the road Friday (Oct. 4) and Sunday (Oct. 6) to take on North Dakota and North Dakota State before hosting their first Summit League home weekend against Omaha and Oral Roberts (Oct. 11 and Oct. 13).