The University of Minnesota Duluth proved that "two" was greater than "three," at least for one night in the NCAA II volleyball landscape as the second-ranked Bulldogs defeated No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul in straight sets at Romano Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

No. 2 UMD (17-1, 10-0 NSIC) runs its winning streak to 11 matches and has still dropped just one set through its first 10 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference bouts, and the Bulldogs have now defeated Concordia-St. Paul (15-3, 8-2 NSIC) in three of the last four matches between the two teams.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Senior outside hitter Katie Ledwell had nine kills on 12 swings before her first error of the match and finished with 13 on the afternoon. Senior rightside hitter Maddy Siroin and junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf also hit double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Scharf surbpassed 500 kills as Bulldog this weekend and now stands at 507 for her career. Junior setter Ashley Hinsch had 44 assists and three kills as she administered the UMD offense.
• Defensively, senior libero Julie Rainey made the most plays on the night with 18 digs though Siroin and senior outside hitter Aly Kujawa each added eight. The Bulldogs collected six blocks on the night while junior middle blocker Monica Turner knocked down two solo and helped on a pair more.
 
The first set proved to be the proverbial war of attrition for both teams with 13 tie scores and seven lead changes, but for the second straight night, UMD came from down set-point to force extras and win 29-27. From there, the tide shifted in UMD's favor. Trailling 4-2 in the second set, UMD rallied off seven straight points and 9-of-10 to take an 11-5 lead. Points went back-and-forth to both sides the rest of the way as UMD held on for a 25-22 set victory.

After the break, the Bulldogs had everything fall right for them during a stretch of the third set, including a Siroin service ace that hit the net and trickled over the other side. "We knew we couldn't just expect to win because they are such a good team," Hinsch said after the match. "Our serving was so strong out of the break, it kept them out of system and made playing defense a lot easier." UMD went up 5-0 on Kujawa's service before a Concordia timeout, and then ran off another run with Siroin serving to lead 11-3.  The Bulldogs did, in fact, get Concordia out of their system as junior libero Taylor Dordan had just seven digs while junior outside hitter Anna Schlaak had 13 to lead the Golden Bears. From an attacking standpoint, CU was led by freshman outside Mariya Sampson with 11 kills. Junior middle blocker Heath Schiller had five kills but played part in four blocks for Concordia.

UP NEXT
UMD will be back at Romano Gym on Tuesday night for a midweek NSIC showdown with Bemidji State University. Opening serve is ser for 7:00 pm.