DULUTH, Minn. – The No. 14 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball took the first two sets only to see No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State University take the next three sets, including a fifth set that saw 44 combined points resulting in a 23-21 Mustang victory, Thursday night at Romano Gymnasium.
 
How It Happened
The Mustangs (22-4, 13-3 NSIC) had a 13-6 lead in the opening set, but the Bulldogs rallied with six straight points, three of which coming from Cianna Selbitschka. Later in the set, UMD went on a 5-0 run following back-to-back service aces from Emma Kujawa. With the set tied at 20-20, the Bulldogs recorded three consecutive kills and then a pair of kills by Grace Daak, gave Minnesota Duluth the first set 25-22.
 
In the second set, the Bulldogs went on a 12-1 run with Selbitschka and Daak responsible for nine of the points both offensively and defensively during that span. UMD cruised to a two-set lead with 25-15 victory.
 
The third set was back-and-forth with Minnesota Duluth having a slight edge at 19-18. However, the Mustangs proceeded to record seven of the next nine points to take the third set 25-21.
 
SMSU had a five-point lead in the fourth set dissolve quickly with five straight points from UMD to make it 9-9. With the set tied 19-19, an error paired with two Selbitschka points gave UMD a 22-19 lead. A Samantha Paulsen kill made it 23-20, but the Mustangs again closed out the set strong with kills on six of the next seven rallies to force a fifth set 26-24.
 
The fifth set, which is only played to 15 points (win by two) mind you, saw UMD have the slight edge early in the set. SMSU flipped the script after the teams switched sides at 8-7 and held a slight edge until three straight Bulldog points capped off by a Paige Decker kill gave UMD a 13-12 lead.
 
From that point, both teams had high side out percentages as neither team could hold serve. UMD had match points at 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15. The Mustangs then held serve once and had a match point at 17-16. Following a pair of Daak kills, UMD had a match point at 18-17. SMSU got the next two points to have match points at 19-18, 20-19, 21-20 and 22-21. At 22-21, the Mustangs were able to put down the ball to end the match at 23-21.
 
The 44 combined points in the fifth set are the most in a UMD match since the new scoring format was implemented in 2008. The Bulldogs also recorded 21 points in a fifth-set win (21-19) over Drury University to open the 2022 season. Four of the last six matches against Southwest Minnesota State have gone to five sets with each team winning twice.
 
Top Performers
Selbitschka led the Bulldogs with 23 kills to go along with 17 digs and six blocks. Daak finished with 17 kills and also had six blocks, eclipsing 300 for her career. Hope Schjenken and Paulsen each finished with 12 kills.
 
Kaylyn Madison finished with a career-high 35 digs, going over 1,000 career digs in the third set. Madison Gordon had a season-high 61 assists, going over 60 assists for the second time in her career.
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs (15-8, 8-7 NSIC) have their final home match of the regular season on Saturday at Romano Gymnasium when they welcome the University of Sioux Falls for a 4 p.m. match on Senior Day.