On an unseasonably warm and humid night in Duluth, the University of Minnesota Duluth needed to survive a heat of a different kind, taking down the pesky University of Minnesota, Crookston in straight sets in both teams' Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opening match at Romano Gymnasium on Thursday night.

No. 1 UMD (8-1, 1-0 NSIC) battled a ready Golden Eagle (4-5, 0-1 NSIC) team that sent each of the second and third sets to extra points with the Bulldogs taking the match 25-22, 27-25, and 27-25. UMD slowed its own pace with 17 attack errors in the match, hitting just .223 including a match-high .278 in the third set. Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf was the only Bulldog to go into double digits of kills with 11 while juniors Sydnie Mauch and Taylor Wissbroecker added nine and eight, respectively.

UMD got into a rhythm early, taking a 10-3 lead in the first set over the Golden Eagles, but then gave back 5-of-6 and 7-of-9 points to Crookston, forcing head coach Jim Boos to take a timeout. The Bulldogs would regroup but never regain that rhythm throughout the night, doing much of its damage at the net with nine team blocks, led by Mauch's six. The Golden Eagles hit just .158 on the match with 25 errors, doing themselves in nearly as much as UMD.
 
OUTSIDE HITS
The Bulldogs are now 23-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles ... UMD senior setter Ashley Hinsch collected 36 assists on the night while UMC junior setter Sierra Trost had 38 ... sophomore right-side hitter Maggie Perrel had a match-high 18 kills for the Golden Eagles ... first-year libero Erin Schindler led the Bulldogs with 14 digs, while Wissbroecker added nine and junior defensive specialist Teal Tomaszewski seven ... first-year right-side hitter Sarah Kelly looked comfortable in her Romano Gym debut, hitting .333 with seven kills and two blocks in a start for UMD.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time in NSIC play this weekend as the team travels up Highway 2 to face Bemidji State University on Saturday afternoon. Opening serve between UMD and BSU is set for 2:00 p.m.