Senior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has done something only 20 other University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball players have done in their collegiate careers, amass 1,000 kills with the program.

Morgen, a transfer from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, collected her 1,000th kill in the third set of the Bulldogs' 3-1 victory (25-16, 20-25, 25-11, 25-11) over Minnesota State University Moorhead this afternoon at the Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.

The Appleton, Minn., native collected 10 kills for the match, and her seventh kill of the evening gave UMD a commanding 14-6 lead in the third and, more notably, her milestone. Morgen has 1,003 kills as a Bulldog, which is tied for 19th in program history with Linda Nicoski. She has 1,268 kills for her collegiate career combining her 265 kills with the Division I Retrievers as a freshman.

The No. 8 Bulldogs have etched a player into the prestigious 1,000 Kill Club seven times in the last eight years. Senior right side hitter Sarah Kelly was the latest to eclipsed the mark, doing so last season in the NCAA Central Regional Final.

UMD (22-5; 15-3 NSIC) was firing on all cylinders except for a flat-footed performance in the second set. Head coach Jim Boos corralled and righted the ship during the break as the Bulldogs attacked at clips of .333 and .480 in the third and fourth sets, respectively. The Dragons puzzled the UMD attack in the second stonewalling the Bulldogs into nine attack errors and a .081 hitting percentage. UMD was sloppy in the second and allowed MSU Moorhead to crack off 16 kills and a .355 hitting percentage. Similar to last night, the Bulldogs faulted to one hitting error in the final set. The Dragons (9-16; 5-13 NSIC) lost the first, third and fourth sets by nine points or more.

For the first time all season UMD had four hitters reached double figure kills. Morgen and Kelly each had 10 while junior outside hitter Hanna Meyer crushed 13. Sophomore outside hitter Kate Berg led all hitters with 16 kills including 11 in her last 18 swings. Junior Emily Torve was the lone player to assemble a double-double, compiling 53 assists and a team-tying high 11 digs. Junior defensive specialist Keena Seiffert also scooped up 11 digs for the Bulldogs. Seiffert had 22 straight matches with at least 10 digs. UMD racked up eight aces from the service line, tying a season high. 

Terminating balls was the key outlier as UMD smashed home 59 kills, 20 more than MSU Moorhead. The Dragons led in blocks 8.0-7.0 and was one dig (48-47) behind the Bulldogs. MSU Moorhead had five service errors and hit .158 for the match.

Kalyln Jenkins put away 10 balls to lead the Dragons while Monica Vega posted 12 digs.

UMD is now tied for the conference lead with Northern State University and Concordia University, St. Paul. The Bulldogs can clinch at least a share of their first regular season conference title since 2014 with a pair of victories next weekend over the University of Mary and Minot State University. The Marauders visit Romano Gymnasium Friday, Nov. 2 at 6:00 p.m.