The University of Minnesota Duluth and its highly-effective offense got into a offensive showdown with the University of Sioux Falls and the Bulldogs left Sioux Falls, S.D., with a 3-0 win Friday night for their 10th consecutive victory. The Bulldogs remained unbeaten in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (6-0) action as they move to 13-1 overall.
UMD notched its 10th straight game hitting over the .300-mark as it went on to hit .330 for the match.Tonight marked the first time the Bulldogs allowed an opponent to have an attack clip over .300 this season. The Cougars (8-3, 3-3 NSIC) hit .329 overall and had four more blocks but came up short in the kills department as UMD had 27 more attacks.
Three players reach double-digit kills compared to USF's one. Junior outside hitter
Makenzie Morgen led all players with 15 kills while freshman outside hitter
Kate Berg (14 kills) and junior right side hitter
Sarah Kelly (10) were close behind. Berg and Morgen each tallied three serving aces. Sophomore libero
Keena Seiffert led the team again with 10 digs.
The serve of Morgen presented problems for the Cougars in the early going. Morgen hit two aces off a 6-0 run to start the game. That difference guided the Bulldogs to a first set win of 25-17. The second set featured each team trading blows and runs until USF gained a slight lead going into crunch time. UMD grabbed the lead at the right time earning the first two set points but were unable to put away USF. The Cougars had a set point of their own off back-to-back errors. Berg silenced the comeback as she knocked down a kill to tie the game at 26-all then smashed the eventual winner two points later on the third and final set point. The Bulldogs came out of the break with a 14-8 lead in the third. Sioux Falls rallied to tie it at 21 before Berg, Kelly and sophomore outside hitter
Hanna Meyer dropped in kills to pull away 25-22 for the victory.
UMD will try to shock the NCAA Division II landscape in an attempt to take down No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State University tomorrow. SMSU defeated St. Cloud State University in three sets tonight to move to 14-0. That tilt against the top-ranked club will start at 2:00 p.m. in Marshall, Minn.
