For the third straight season, the No. 16 University of Minnesota Duluth started off 4-0 after dispatching Westminster University (Utah) and Southern Nazarene University Saturday at the Javelina Volleyball Classic in Kingsville, Texas. The Bulldogs are now 70-6 (.921) on opening weekend dating back to 2006.

UMD, which played Westminster and Southern Nazarene for the first time in program history, came off a five-set thriller a night ago against Texas A&M University-Kingsville and responded by taking down the Griffins and the Crimson Storm in straight sets with blistering offense to put a bow on the weekend.

The Bulldogs, which hit .355 the night before against the Javelinas, hit over the .300 mark in both contests.They smashed 33 kills and hit .321 of the front end versus Westminster then blasted 44 kills and an astounding .450 hitting percentage against Southern Nazarene. The .450 clip was the highest percentage by the Bulldog offense since Oct. 15, 2021 against Minot State University (.500).

For their efforts, senior right side hitter Samantha Paulsen and sophomore middle blocker Kylie Broten were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Broten played a key role in the game one victory over the Griffins. She produced a match high 13 points on the afternoon, tallying a team-high 10 kills to go along with five blocks including a solo stuff and even tallied an assist in the contest.

Graduate setter Maddi Kealy propelled the offense to its second straight .300-plus hitting clip, including an astonishing .500 attack percentage in the first frame. Freshman setter Ava Jones chipped in eight assists of her own. However, it was Jones who was also deadly from the service line as she accounted for three of the team's seven aces. Graduate defensive specialist Kaylyn Madison had a team leading 12 digs followed by graduate outside hitter Cianna Selbitschka who scooped 10 digs as the only other Bulldog member to post double digits digs.

The Griffins struggled mightily attempting to keep pace with the Bulldogs ferocious attack. Westminster accounted for 21 attack errors and hit .010 for the match. The stonewall defense clamped the Griffins down into hitting negative clips in the first and third sets and were blocked on eight occasions. 

Southern Nazarene didn't have much luck either, holding the UMD offense at bay. The Bulldogs erupted for 18 kills in the opening frame and took set one 25-17. That was the closest score of the match as the Crimson Storm dropped the last two sets 25-11 and 25-8. SNU struggled containing the serve from Madison. The Eagan, Minn., native racked up three consecutive aces in the second set and spun a 10-0 run in favor of UMD. Madison also accounted for another large run, this time a 12-0 spurt in the final set to break a 5-5 tie to an overwhelming 14-5 lead.

It was a balanced attack by the Bulldogs as six attackers registered at least six kills. Paulsen led the way with 11 kills on 16 swings and only two errors (.563 hitting clip). Sophomore outside hitter Paige Decker was the most efficient player on the floor, posting six kills with no errors on 10 attempts. Her .600 attack clip led all players. The aforementioned Madison recorded a career-high six aces and also led the club with 11 digs. Kealy and Jones combined for 30 of the club's 41 assists.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 13 in the Up North Tournament hosted by Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich.