The University of Sioux Falls snapped an 11-match losing streak to the No. 15 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball club Saturday afternoon at Romano Gymnasium.

The Cougars upended the Bulldogs, who are still in search of their first home win of the season, after dropping the opening set then rallied off the following three sets to conquer the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest. It was the second consecutive outing UMD (8-5 overall, 1-3 NSIC) grabbed the opening set but unsuccessfully closed out any of the remaining sets.

Sioux Falls (9-5, 4-2 NSIC) played from behind most of the first set and lost the frame 25-19. Coming out of the set break, the Cougars held off the Bulldogs just enough down the stretch of each set. USF captured sets two and three by scores of 25-22 and, after 15 ties and 10 lead changes, the Cougars mustered a late charge to bounce UMD 25-23 in set four.

It was the third win for Sioux Falls in 21 lifetime matches and the first since Oct. 28, 2016.

Freshman setter Ava Jones continued to trail blaze her path as one of the premier setters in the Division II landscape. Jones tallied her first double-double of her young career, posting a team-high 24 assists and 12 digs, which is a new personal best for the Detroit Lakes, Minn., native.

Offense was hard to come by as both teams sledged their way to 50 combined errors and neither team hitting over .200 for the match. UMD produced a slight 55-52 edge in kills but compiled six more hitting errors as USF accounted for 14 blocks on the afternoon and finished with a higher hitting percentage (.188-.160)

The Cougars' Abby Haus registered 16 kills to lead all players while senior right side hitter Samantha Paulsen gathered 11 kills to lead the Bulldogs. Sophomore middle blocker Madeline Guetzkow (10 kills) and graduate outside hitter Cianna Selbitschka (also 10) also reached the double-digit kill mark.

While Jones tallied her first double-double, Selbitschka lined up her team-leading seventh double-double of the season with the addition of 12 digs on her resume. During the third set, Selbitschka passed Kari Wolford for 12th all-time in the UMD kill charts. Wolford had 1,250 career kills during her tenure ranging from 2004-07.

UMD also led 74-68 in digs with graduate libero Kaylyn Madison as the sole player to scoop up at least 20 digs. The Eagan, Minn., native finished with 21 to lead all players and she also collected eight assists, which equaled her personal career best as well. Sophomore middle blocker Kylie Broten racked up six blocks including a solo rejection Saturday, matching her best outing as Bulldog from earlier this season against Concordia-St. Paul.

The Bulldogs conclude their longest homestand of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 8 against Minnesota State University, Mankato. The action begins at 6:00 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium.