The fourth-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth slipped for the first time in 2015, falling in five sets to No. 24 Western Washington University on Saturday afternoon before bouncing back with its own five-set victory over the hosting No. 1 University of Tampa on Saturday evening at the Courtyard by Marriott Volleyball Classic in Tampa, Florida.

No. 4 UMD (3-1) took the first two sets against Tampa and held on through a rally by the top-ranked Spartans to dominate the fifth set and take home a 3-2 victory with scores of 25-19, 30-28, 23-25, 24-26, and 15-9. "Obviously, it was a heck of a bounce back from a hard-fought loss," said head coach Jim Boos after the match. "My whole rationale for coming to this tournament was to test this [young] team and expose them to the tempo, speed, and pace because they'll see it all once we get to conference play."

The Buldogs showed their teeth early against the top-ranked team in the land, coming from behind in the first set after trailing by four as late as 10-6, rallying behind the serve of senior setter Ashley Hinsch to tie the game up about 10 apiece. Hinsch had 61 assists in the Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf gave UMD its first lead of the match with a service ace. Leading 15-14, the Bulldogs would score the next five points with kills by Scharf, Hinsch, and senior middle blocker Monica Turner and held pace the rest of the way with a 25-14 first-set victory. The second set brought new meaning to back-and-forth with 25 tie scores leading to a 28-all tie before the Bulldogs finally broke the tie on consecutive kills by Turner and Scharf.

The Spartans proved their were not without life in the third set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead, holding UMD at bay to a 13-6 score before the Bulldogs went on a run of their own five-point run to pull within a pair at 13-11. After trading runs the Bulldogs found themselves once again tying the score, this time at 21-all, but Tampa would hold on to claim the third set 25-23. The Spartans once again jumped out early on, but UMD rallied once more, eventually tying the game at 20-20 on a service ace by first-year libero Erin Schindler who had 19 digs in the match. The two teams once again traded ties to 24-all but a pair of Bulldog attack errors gave the Spartans the fourth set win.

Scharf had already tied her career high with 27 kills through the first four sets against Tampa, adding three more in the decisive fifth to finish with 30 in the match while hitting .365 in the win. "She seemed to struggle for some reason in the first game Saturday, but really took it upon herself to step up against Tampa," said Coach Boos. Scharf was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, collecting 42 kills on Saturday and 71 on the weekend. Scharf was joined by Hinsch and junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch on the All-Tournament Team.

Turner and junior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker finished second on the Bulldogs with 13 kills each. For Tampa, senior outside Berkley Whaley (20 kills) and senior right-side hitter Marissa Lisenbee (17) led the Spartans offensively while junior setter Gina Clarke had 55 assists and freshman libero Logan Holanchock had 27 digs.

No. 24 Western Washington 3, UMD 2
Earlier Saturday, UMD was clipped by No. 24 Western Washington in five sets by scores of 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 18-25, and 10-15. Mauch led the way for UMD with 20 kills in the match, hitting .552 while Turner added 15 kills and seven blocks, one short of a career high, in the losing effort.  Wissbroecker fell a kill and a dig short of a double-double with nine each.

Western Washington scored the final three points of the first game to steal one from the Bulldogs 26-24, but the Bulldogs bounced back, building up a 24-20 lead and eventually holding on to claim the win. The third set was a dominant one for UMD, a 10-point victory. Errors did the Bulldogs in in the fourth set, including four straight to close the game and give the Vikings a 25-18 win, and they would take that momentum forwards with a 15-10 fifth set win as well.

WWU got 14 kills from both Joellee Buckner and Abby Phelps, with Buckner grabbing 10 digs as well to complete a double-double and tie Jennica McPherson for the team lead. Setters Brette Boesel and Kristina Tribley combined for 40 assists, while Hinsch had 58 for UMD. Schindler had 22 digs to lead the Bulldogs.

OUTSIDE HITS
UMD remains winless all-time against Western Washington, now 0-2, while picking up its first victory (1-4) against Tampa ... Scharf's 42 kills on Saturday would pace the Bulldogs, an average of 4.20 per set on Saturday ... Wissbroecker averaged a double-double with 22 kills and 22 digs, against setting a new career pace with 13 defensive saves against Tampa ... Tomaszewski also notched a career-best with 13 digs against Western Washington.

UMD returns to action next week at the U-Indy Tournament hosted by the University of Indianapolis. The Bulldogs will once against start bright and early Friday, Sept. 11 with a 9:00 a.m. match-up against Colorado School of Mines opening serve on the tournament.