The No. 10-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth made quick work of its final road stop of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season, sweeping its way past the University of Mary to a fourth-straight victory in straight sets in Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday afternoon.
No. 10 UMD (20-7, 13-5 NSIC) ran its record to 13-5 away from Romano Gym on the regular season in 2015, taking its fourth straight match in three sets and knocking off U-Mary (11-16, 6-12) for the second time this season. The Bulldogs will return home next weekend for the final week of the NSIC season, playing host to Minnesota State University Moorhead and a revenge match-up with No. 4 Northern State University next Saturday night.
UMD scored the first five points of the night and eventually ran up a 19-7 lead in game one as they reigned going away at 25-12. The rest of the night, U-Mary held a little tighter, down just one at 11-10 in game two before the Bulldogs once again ran off five straight to lead 16-10 and eventually take game two 25-15. The third set began with four-straight kills by senior outside hitter
Mariah Scharf for the Bulldogs, but the Marauders again held tight to UMD, down just 13-12 and later 17-15. The Bulldogs ran off five straight once again and eight of the final ten points to close out a 25-17 victory. Scharf led all attackers with 18 kills on the night, hitting .469 for UMD.
As a team, the Bulldogs hit .400 while holding U-Mary to just an -.054 mark, forcing 22 attack errors by the Marauders. The Bulldogs had six total blocks, with senior setter
Ashley Hinsch and junior middle blocker
Sydnie Mauch each playing a part in four on the night. Hinsch added 42 assists on the night, while U-Mary's Katelyn Olson had 22. Alexis Jacobs had 10 kills to lead the Marauders. Junior outside hitter
Taylor Wissbroecker neared a double-double with a team-high nine digs and eight kills; she was matched by freshman libero
Erin Schindler who also made nine saves. Alex Brown had a game-high 13 for the Marauders.
UP NEXTUMD returns home next weekend and will take on MSU Moorhead Friday night at Romano Gym. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.