The University of Minnesota Duluth continued a nine-match winning streak, but saw its 25-set winning streak snapped as the Bulldogs knocked off Upper Iowa University 3-1 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match-up on Saturday afternoon.

No. 2 UMD (15-1, 8-0 NSIC) was hit hard in the second set as Upper Iowa (8-8, 3-5 NSIC) knotted the match at a game apiece, but the Bulldogs would take the final two to win the match: 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, and 25-15.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Senior outside hitter Katie Ledwell led the way for the Bulldogs, hitting .419 with 16 kills, four service aces, and a pair of blocks for a total of 21.5 points scored on the afternoon. Junior outside Mariah Scharf finished with a team-high 20 kills on the afternoon, a career-high. Junior middle blocker Monica Turner knocked down 13 kills while hitting a team-high .632, and senior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin rounded out the Bulldog attack with 10 kills of her own.
• Senior libero Julie Rainey made 23 digs on the afternoon, with senior outside hitter Aly Kujawa and Ledwell each adding seven, and junior setter Ashley Hinsch adding nine to go with her 53 assists in the match.

UMD went up 7-1 to start the first set, thanks to a pair of service aces by senior outside hitter Aly Kujawa and two kills by Ledwell. From there, the Bulldogs cruised and took the first set 25-15. As good as they were in the first, Upper Iowa proved just as tough in the second, hitting .552 as a team for a dominant second-set victory. It was the first time the Bulldogs had lost a set in NSIC play as part of its current nine-match win streak.

The two teams went back-and-forth to start the third set, knotted up as late as 20-20, but UMD scored the final five points to bounce back and go up 2-1 in the match. The fourth set saw Upper Iowa score first, but UMD immediately took the lead back and never looked back, rolling to a 25-16 set victory. The Bulldogs hit .319 as a team, holding Upper Iowa to a .250 hitting night despite the fantastic second set. Upper Iowa did hold the edge in blocks with eight, compared to four for the Bulldogs.

Junior outside hitter Jennifer Mundt almost went kill-for-kill with UMD's top hitters, collecting 18 of her own in the match.  No other Peacock even hit double digits, though four had at least five. Upper Iowa's setting tandem finished with 42 on the match, led by senior Hailey Brown's 23. Senior libero Amanda Weiss hauled in 13 digs, while four other players had at least seven for UIU.

UP NEXT
UMD returns to Romano Gymnasium for five matches over the next two weeks. The Bulldogs will start the homestand hosting Minnesota State University Mankato next Friday night at 7:00 p.m.