The No. 17 University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball Team (16-2, 9-2 NSIC) swept visiting Minnesota State University Moorhead 25-16, 25-19, 25-11 Saturday afternoon at Romano Gymnasium. The Bulldogs notched a .418 hitting percentage with 48 kills and just seven attack errors in the victory, their second-highest percentage of the season.
 
Senior Kylie Broten hit .696 with a match-high 16 kills to lead UMD's offensive attack, while sophomore Elyse Karrels also had an impressive outing hitting .647 with a career-best 12 kills and matching her career-high with six block assists. Freshman Kendra Behrens also had a career-high with five block assists to go with four kills and two digs.  
 
Sophomore setter Ava Jones dished out 43 assists and added three digs for her 12th match with 40 or more assists this season.
 
The Bulldogs held the Dragons (12-6, 6-4 NSIC) to a .143 hitting percentage and 34 kills, and also held the advantage in assists (44-30), service aces (4-1), digs (40-35), team blocks (8.0-2.0) and points (60.0-37.0).
 
The home team was efficient in the first set, hitting .500 with just one attack error. Karrels has six kills on six attempts and added two block assists and Broten added five kills. Behrens opened the set with a kill and Xada Johnson had a service ace to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0 and they never looked back. They would never trail in the set and led by as many as 11 points, 18-7, which came following a 9-1 run. The Dragons would get as close as seven points, 23-16, before kills from Karrels and Behrens put the set away.
 
It didn't take long for UMD to jump ahead in the second set, as a kill from Behrens made the score 3-2 early and gave the Maroon and Gold a lead it would not relinquish. That kill sparked a 4-0 run that eventually led into an 8-2 run and a 10-4 Bulldog lead. UMD would lead by eight points five times before a block from Karrels and Jones pushed the advantage to nine points at 22-13. A late 6-1 run from the Dragons forced the Bulldogs to take a timeout, but back-to-back kills from Karrels and freshman Brietta Tims out of the timeout clinched the set for the home team. Karrels, Broten and freshman Mollie Rupp combined for 13 of UMD's 18 kills in the set, while Behrens and Karrels combined for six block assists.
 
Broten hit .750 with six kills to help the Bulldogs take care of business in the third set. A kill from Rupp started a 7-1 run that finally put the home team in the lead, 11-6. The closest MSU Moorhead would come to UMD from there was four points, before a 10-1 run ended the set and the match. Broten had four kills during the final stretch.  
 
UMD is back in action Tuesday when it travels to Bemidji State for a 6 p.m. midweek contest. The Bulldogs will then return home for matches vs. Augustana Friday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. and Wayne State Saturday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m.