The University of Minnesota Duluth dominated once again at home, taking a 25-13, 25-9, 25-15 victory over Minot State University to claim a share of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season championship with Northern State University. The fifth-ranked Wolves and the fourth-ranked Bulldogs each finished with a 17-3 conference record. However, UMD was able to secure the top overall seed in next week's NSIC Tournament, which begins Tuesday night, with the head-to-head tie-breaker advantage over Northern State. 

The regular season crown is UMD's league-leading 24th title and first since 2014 when it outright won the regular season championship with a unblemished 20-0 record. 

Additionally, the Bulldogs held senior day this afternoon with a ceremony after the match. With the third set all but in favor of UMD, head coach Jim Boos subbed out Makenzie Morgen and Sarah Kelly after a side out to give his two seniors a standing ovation from the crowd of 834 fans at Romano Gymnasium. 

The Bulldogs (24-5; 17-3 NSIC) came out ready to go from the first serve and only got better with each passing set. UMD hit .382 in the first set propelled by senior right side/middle blocker Sarah Kelly, who had a five kills in the initial set. The Bulldogs walloped 17 kills to hit .467 the next set. Sophomore outside hitter Hanna Meyer registered seven kills in that set alone to spark the club. Finally, junior middle blocker Abby Thor notched seven kills in the third frame as the Bulldogs collected 20 kills and capped the final set with a .472 hitting percentage. Overall, UMD hit .440, the third highest total this season, and the best mark in 13 outings. 

Thor led the Bulldogs with 13 kills, Meyer was one kill off Thor's effort while Kelly was the third UMD hitter to hammer down at least 10 kills. All six of the Bulldog attackers finished with a hitting percentage above .312.

The Beavers (13-17; 6-14 NSIC) hit .104 for the match and were led by Shelby Spuller who had nine kills. Spuller needed 44 attempts for her team-leading kill mark. Emily Falldorf and Jeanne Brenner each had six kills as well for Minot State. Kelsey Dewulf dished out 23 assists in the losing effort while Karli Koza compiled a team-high 15 digs.

UMD has won all 10 meetings with Minot State and has not dropped a single set. The Beavers struggles continued against the Bulldogs as they have registered at least 20 points in a set only four times in 30 tries. 

Junior libero Keena Seiffert racked up a match-high 18 digs. She was one of three Bulldogs to hit double figures in digs as the team tallied 48 digs in the three sets. All-NSIC First Team selection Emily Torve whipped up 39 assists and held UMD to nine attack errors on the night during her distributing. The nine attack errors was the second fewest mistakes committed by the Bulldogs this season. 

UMD will host eighth-seed Upper Iowa University in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament on Tuesday evening, with a chance to play host to the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament with a victory at Romano Gymnasium. Opening serve is set for 6:00 p.m.