The top-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth came out swinging in a three-game sweep over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival the University of Mary in the team's return to Romano Gymnasium to start a three-match homestand on Friday night.

No. 1 UMD (12-2, 5-1 NSIC) opened up a 2-0 lead with a pair of 25-13 victories in both the first and second games but ran into some trouble in game three, holding on for a 25-20 match-clinching victory. The Bulldogs played a strong defensive match at the net, collecting nine blocks while U-Mary (8-7, 3-3 NSIC) doomed itself with 20 attack errors on the night.  Junior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker and senior outside Mariah Scharf led the attack for UMD with 11 kills each in the match as junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch also hit double digits with 10 on the night.

On the attacking front, the Bulldogs were nearly perfect in game two: knocking down 14 kills with just one error, hitting .500 while the Marauders stumbled with just eight kills and 10 attack errors, hitting -.054 in game two. UMD didn't make many mistakes defensively either, hauling in 50 digs and holding U-Mary to an .020 attack percentage for the entire match. Senior setter Ashley Hinsch led the way, grabbing 12 digs to go with her 36 assists. Wissbroecker and first-year libero Erin Schindler added nine. Head coach Jim Boos needed to call a pair of timeouts in the decisive third game, calming down his Bulldogs who had opened leads of 12-4 and 15-7 before the Marauders scored eight of ten points to pull within 18-16 and eventually tie it at 18-18 after a timeout. UMD went on a run of its own to open a 23-18 lead and held on the rest of the way.
 
OUTSIDE HITS
UMD runs its record to 11-0 over U-Mary with the sweep ... Scharf's 11 kills continued to inch her closer to 1,000 for her career, now with 949 ... senior middle blcoker Monica Turner also continued toward that milestone with four kills to reach 987 for her career ... Turner was also part of the block party for UMD with two on the night to bring her to 336 in her career and a tie for fourth-place all-time at UMD ... Mauch led the way with seven blocks, including two solo on the night ... U-Mary sophomore outside hitter Lauren Randall led the Marauders with nine kills while U-Mary's leading attacker, junior Thayna Silva was stifled, held to just one kill ... junior setter Janell Finkbeiner had 14 assists to lead the Marauders while also grabbing a team-high 12 digs.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host Minot State University tomorrow afternoon as the homestand continues. UMD and MSU will open serve at 4:00 p.m. in Romano Gym.