The championship match of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Volleyball Tournament featured two top-10 teams going blow per blow with each other in an offensive explosion. With both teams hitting above .320, the University of Minnesota Duluth came out on top with to capture its third NSIC championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA II Central Region Tournament with a four-set win over No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University at Romano Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Bulldogs, who claimed their 24th NSIC regular season title last weekend, added another trophy to the mantle having won the conference tournament in 2013 and 2014. Tonight marks the second time having won the tournament at home, also accomplishing that feat in 2014. UMD improved to 12-4 overall and 8-1 at home in the postseason tournament. It is undefeated in championship matches (3-0).

The Bulldogs have also won 25 straight matches at home, the third longest streak in program history. UMD has undefeated home seasons in each of the past two seasons.

Juniors Hanna Meyer, Abby Thor and Emily Torve were all named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team. Southwest Minnesota State's Taylor Reiss and Kaylee Burmeister and the University of Sioux Falls' Bria Barfnecht were also recognized to the all-tournament club.
 
 

Even with the home court advantage, the Bulldogs (27-5) had to halt the white-hot Mustangs (23-8), who won 10 consecutive matches coming into the championship. SMSU had four more kills than UMD but the Bulldogs had the added benefit of four more aces and seven more blocks. The Mustangs finished with 65 kills and 19 errors on 142 attempts while UMD had 61 kills and 15 errors on 137 swings. The Bulldogs hit a stifling .336 and their counterparts attacked at a .324 clip.

For the third time in the last six matches UMD capped the night with four hitters with at least 10 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kate Berg tallied 15 kills and hit a team-high .412 to lead the Bulldogs. Berg, a first team All-NSIC selection, corralled her ninth double-double of the season with 12 digs. Senior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen and right side hitter Meyer posted 13 kills while senior middle blocker Sarah Kelly added 10 kills. Morgen also posted a double-double as she collected 12 digs, a team high with Berg. Kelly had seven blocks including a pair of solo blocks. Torve dished out 53 assists and UMD hit above .300 for the 14th time this season.

Angela Young led the Mustangs with 19 kills while Burmeister totaled 16 kills. Meg Schmidt and Sarina Smith each had 12 kills. Emma Thomssen posted a match-high 58 assists and Sydney Omtvedt had 15 digs for SMSU.

The Bulldogs won the first set with a healthy .545 hitting percentage with four attackers getting three kills each. The second was drama-filled as the Mustangs crawled back from a 14-7 deficit and had a 23-22 lead. UMD tied it up and Meyer gave the Bulldogs set point after terminating the longest rally of the night. Berg clinched the set with a solo block. SMSU grabbed the third set and never trailed in the set. UMD never trailed by more than four points in the set. The fourth set was the most contested with five lead changes and 11 ties. The Bulldogs took a 18-17 lead off a service error and kept SMSU trailing by a few points long enough for Kelly to thump home the championship point.

UMD will now await the NCAA II Championship selection show tomorrow evening at 9:00 p.m. to learn their opponent in the NCAA II Central Region Tournament which will begin this Thursday at the top seed. UMD, the Great American Conference tournament champion Harding University, and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament champion the University of Nebraska Kearney each earn automatic bids, and the next five regionally ranked teams will fill out the bracket.

Postgame:
 

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