For the third consecutive week, the University of Minnesota Duluth remained grounded at the No. 7 position in the most recent edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association II Poll that was released on Monday. UMD swept all four of their opponents this weekend including tournament host Michigan Techicalnogical University in the finale to claim the 2017 Keweenaw Classic hardware in Houghton, Mich. The Bulldogs completed their final facelift before starting the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tilt, which starts Thursday at Romano Gymnasium.
UMD received 884 points, 77 points behind No. 6 the University Nebraska Kearney, who rolled in their own tournament this weekend. Southwest Minnesota State University and Concordia-St. Paul flipped switched roles as the Mustangs knocked off the Golden Bears in the Colorado Premier Challenge to overtake the No. 1 spot. Four other NSIC schools slotted in the top nine spots, including Winona State University (6), Augustana (S.D.) University (8), and Wayne State University (9). Rounding out the involvement in the poll is No. 23 Northern State University.
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Full AVCA Top 25 Week 2 Poll
| Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
2017 Record |
 Previous |
| 1 |
Southwest Minnesota State |
1172 |
8-0 |
2 |
| 2 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
1156 |
7-1 |
1 |
| 3 |
Lewis |
1085 |
7-1 |
3 |
| 4 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
1045 |
5-0 |
4 |
| 5 |
Angelo State |
980 |
8-1 |
6 |
| 6 |
Nebraska-Kearney |
961 |
8-1 |
5 |
| 7 |
UMD |
884 |
7-1 |
7 |
| 8 |
Ferris State |
852 |
6-1 |
8 |
| 9 |
Augustana (S.D.) |
752 |
8-1 |
9 |
| 10 |
Western Washington |
718 |
6-2 |
10 |
Junior right side hitter
Sarah Kelly, junior outside hitter
Makenzie Morgen and senior middle blocker
Allison Olley were all named to the 2017 Keweenaw Classic All-Tournament Team for their efforts with Kelly being named as the team's most valuable player. UMD amassed the most players on the all-tournament team after Kelly was the only recipient a week prior.
Kelly mustered 43 kills hitting a .436 percentage on the week and was second on the team in points scored behind Morgen. Olley terminated 34 balls and stuffed the opposing attack 14 times including a monster solo block in the Michigan Tech game. Olley, also, one-upped Kelly as she reached an absurd attacking clip of .509. Kelly and Olley both sport an attack percentage above .500 to start the year, which ranks second and third in the nation. Morgen paced the Bulldogs with 50 kills (4.17 kills/set) and had double-digits kills in three of the four matches and collected 46 digs (3.83 digs/set) to lead the club as well. In addition, Morgen had a game-high 14 kills to help capture the Keweenaw Classic.
UMD will return to the court for a weekday match against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Thursday night. The home debut for the Bulldogs is set to begin at 7 p.m.
