The University of Minnesota Duluth continued its undefeated home start to the 2017 season on Friday night, defeating Minot State University in three straight sets. The Bulldogs capped off season best marks in attacking percentage and opposing attack percentage against the Beavers in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. UMD, which is 7-0 inside Romano Gymnasium, hit a sparkling .488 including a third set .577 to put away Minot State (25-16, 25-9, 25-9). The Bulldogs nearly led wire-to-wire in all three sets. The third set was the only time UMD (18-2, 11-1 NSIC) trailed off a service error to begin the set. The Beavers (4-17, 0-12 NSIC) have now lost 52 consecutive NSIC matches dating back to 2015 and have been swept by UMD in all eight meetings since their arrival into the NSIC in 2012.

Seven Bulldogs hit higher than .450 on the night as they committed only five errors. Senior middle blocker Allison Olley dominated offensively in the early going as she knocked down her first seven attacks for kills. Olley finished 9-for-12 and freshman outside hitter Kate Berg and junior outside hitter each recorded a team-high 10 kills. Reigning American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly added eight kills of her own.

The Bulldogs didn't allowed the Beavers to hit over .185 in any set. Berg and Morgen topped the team with nine digs apiece. Sophomore defensive specialist Keena Seiffert and sophomore setter Emily Torve were close behind each racking up eight digs each. Torve dished out 26 assists on the night and gave way to senior setter Sarah Heesacker, who whipped up eight assists herself.

The first set was tightly contested for the first half. The Beavers fell behind and only trailed by one before UMD turned on the jets to go on a 16-8 run to close the first stanza. Minot State struggled with Morgen's serve in the second set as the Bulldogs rallied off the first 11 points to begin set two before Morgen tried to place her serve down the line but it went wide. Minot State couldn't recover from the deficit and fell behind 2-0 quickly going into the intermission.

The Bulldogs propelled past Minot State in the third set thanks to their best offensive performance by recording 15 kills on 26 errorless attacks for a .577 attack percentage. UMD jumped out to a 10-2 lead which set the tone for the rest of the match. With their comfortable leads in the last two frames, the Bulldogs allowed their bench to see significant playing time.

Freshman defensive specialist Megan Freeberg appeared in two sets and made a sprawling save which turned into a Bulldog kill. Freshman middle blocker Lexy Langenfeld notched her collegiate first three kills on her seven attempts. Sophomore outside hitter Hanna Meyer saw action in all three sets while sophomore middle blocker Bailey Ramich made an appearance in the second set and had a dig.

The Bulldogs will take the court tomorrow to finish up the Pink Weekend going against the University of Mary at 4:00 p.m.