Reiss, Larson lead SMSU to title, tourney bid

Taylor Reiss a Minneota Viking grad, the tournament Most Valuable Player, recorded a match-high 25 kills to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in championship match of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Sunday.
 SMSU (28-3), the No. 2 seed in the tournament and the No. 4 ranked team in Division II, won by scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-14, over the top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Golden Bears (28-3).
 Reiss along with teammates Kaylee Burmeister and Megan Larson, also a former Viking, were all named to the six-person all-tournament team.
The tournament championships gives SMSU the NSIC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Concordia is a great team,” said Reiss. “It’s special because both of us were playing for something,” she added.
SMSU was No. 2 in this week's Central Region rankings with CSP at No. 1.
The two teams split a pair of matches during the regular season prior to today's match.
“We came out and played well defensively,” said Reiss about the championship. “That’s what helped us overallo,” she added.
 The tournament championship is the second in team history (2012) in five championship match appearances. SMSU was runner-up in 2004, 2005 and 2016.
 Reiss, who yesterday set a school record with 41 kills, finished the match hitting .397 with just two errors on 58 attacks.
“Knowing my teammates will do anything they canto keep the play going, helps me alot,” said Reiss.
She said it is, “Important to have more people involved and everyone did a good job of hitting,” she said.
 SMSU finished the match hitting .298 with 49 kills on 121 attempts.
The Mustangs were solid at the net recording eight team blocks with Sarina Smith leading the way with five assisted blocks.
For Reiss, it was a special to know this was the first conference title for SMSU since 2012.
 Southwest Minnesota State will be making its 14th straight NCAA appearance and 15th overall.