The University of Minnesota Duluth knew its standing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference entering play on the weekend, so there was not much pressure on the Bulldogs except to continue its momentum into the NSIC Postseason Tournament -- though the Bulldogs will have an eye on revenge for an earlier defeat at the hands of Northern State University in 2015.

Call it mission accomplished.

No. 9 UMD (22-7, 15-5 NSIC) continued its six-match winning streak and spoiled No. 3 Northern State's bid for a share of the NSIC Regular Season Title, knocking off the Wolves in five sets at Romano Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. For the second straight match, the Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 and answered back. Northern took game one 26-24, but the Bulldogs continued to get stronger in games two and three, winning 25-22 and 25-15. They put out their lowest attacking effort in game four but still hit .250 with just three errors as the Wolves knotted the game at two apiece with a 25-20 victory. Game five was all UMD, a 15-8 victory highlighted by a mid-game defensive play by senior setter Ashley Hinsch and junior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker where the pair, each on a sighted position on the ground, volleyed the ball back over the net after a save by Hinsch.

The setter collected 60 assists for the second straight night, 61 in all, adding a kill, nine digs, and two blocks, but was called for five ball-handling errors. She starred, but the real Bulldog hero was senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf who knocked down a career-high 30 kills while hitting .472 on the night. She collected three blocks and grabbed seven digs for the Bulldogs. Junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch finished second on the team in kills and had just 13 on the match as Hinsch relied so heavily on her senior outside. She played a role in five blocks, one solo, as UMD teamed up for nine on the day. Defensively, the Bulldogs had three players grab at least ten digs, led by freshman libero Erin Schindler's 11, while Wissbroecker grabbed 10 on the back-end of a double-double (11 kills) along with sophomore defensive specialist Kelly Madison.

The Wolves were not without stars on the night, as All-NSIC First Team right-side hitter Kelsey Chambers and former Duluth East standout Mandy Kurosky collected 20 kills on the night, the latter in front of a rather large cheering section behind the scorer's table that would go home disappointed in the result of the match. NSIC Player of the Year, senior setter Drew Smith collected 62 assists on the night, slightly edging Hinsch as has been the case much of the season with the pair currently first and second in the nation in assists per game. Northern State's senior libero Renee Hoffman had a match-high 15 digs.

UP NEXT
Finishing fifth in the NSIC, the Bulldogs knew they'd be on the road in the first round. A victory by NSIC Regular Season Champion No. 1 Concorida University, St. Paul and an upset of No. T-4 Wayne State (Neb.) College by No. 25 Winona State University put the Bulldogs on the road to Wayne, Nebraska to take on the aforementioned fourth-ranked Wildcats on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Postseason Tournament with the weekend's semifinals and finals on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul, provided the Golden Bears can avoid an upset in round one. Opening serve between UMD and WSC is set for 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.