The University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team fell in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Coneference action to the Southwest Minnesota State University in four sets at Romano Gymnasium on Friday evening. A trio of Bulldogs reached double digit kills with senior right side hitter Samantha Paulsen leading the way with a team-high 14 kills on the night.

The No. 15 Bulldogs (8-4 overall, 1-3 NSIC) nabbed the first set but the No. 4 Mustangs (14-0 overall, 5-0 NSIC) took the following three sets to withstand the potential upset bid. UMD came close to forcing its fifth five-set match this season but couldn't secure one of the three set points it had in the fourth frame.

Both teams have been evenly matched against one another dating back to 2017. With both teams securing six victories over that time frame coming into Friday, tonight's match was much of the same. SMSU edged UMD slightly in kills (60-58), assists (57-54), digs (63-59) and hitting percentage (.291-.282).

Leah Jones led all players with 15 kills. Along with Paulsen's 14 kills, the Chisago, Minn., native registered a team-high three blocks. Senior outside hitter Payton Addink recorded a season-high 13 kills and graduate outside hitter Cianna Selbitschka tallied 10 kills, 16 digs -- sixth double-double -- and a team-high two aces. Freshman setter Ava Jones set a personal best 35 assists and nabbed her first career start. Graduate libero Kaylyn Madison paced the team with 25 digs in the match.

The Bulldogs return to Romano Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon to conclude the weekend against the University of Sioux Falls. First serve of the NSIC contest is schedule to begin at 2:00 p.m.