After dropping its first, first game of the season, the University of Minnesota Duluth ran off three straight victories to defeat Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Minnesota State University-Moorhead 3-1 in Moorhead on Saturday afternoon.

No. 2 UMD (22-1, 15-0 NSIC) dropped just the second set of its NSIC season but ran its winning streak to 16 matches overall and 25 straight in conference play dating back to last Oct. 22. MSU-Moorhead (10-13, 5-10 NSIC won the first set 25-17, but the Bulldogs took the next three 25-13, 25-19, 25-19 to close out the victory.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior setter Ashley Hinsch spread the ball around with 50 assists as five Bulldogs had at least 10 kills on the night. Senior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin had her second double-double in as many games with 10 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Sydnie Mauch led the way with 12 kills while also knocking down five blocks. Outside hitters Mariah Scharf (Jr.) and Katie Ledwell (Sr.) each added 11, while sophomore middle Monica Turner rounded out the group with 10.
• The Bulldogs were tough on the net with 11 blocks as a team, led by Mauch's five. Ledwell had two of UMD's five solo blocks. Senior libero Julie Rainey led UMD with 27 digs, while Hinsch added eight to her setting totals. MSU-Moorhead hit just .161 for the match.

For the second straight match, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start in the first set. Knotted at 9-all, the Dragons scored the next six points and 8-of-10 to open a significant lead and eventually held on to down the Bulldogs 25-17. The scare woke up the UMD offense as the Bulldogs opened a 13-2 lead in the second set, and when Moorhead cut the lead to 20-13, they ran off the final five points to knot the match at 1-1.

MSU-M opened an early lead, 8-4 in the third set, but the Bulldogs rebounded in the set that had a total of nine tie scores and lead changes. Tied at 15-15, UMD scored the next seven points and held on the rest of the way to take the lead with a 25-19 victory. The Bulldogs hit an efficient .333 in the third set but had just one attack error compared to nine for Moorhead. UMD opened up a 10-5 lead and held on the rest of the way, never letting the Dragons pull the score tighter than three points.

Junior middle blocker Kaitlin Van Winkle led all attackers with 13 kills for MSU-Moorhead. Dragon setters collected 37 assists led by junior Casie Baer. Junior libero Amber Krenske had 13 digs for MSU.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will be home for their next three matches, beginning with a visit from NSIC rival St. Cloud State University on Tuesday evening. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at Romano Gym.