The No. 18 University of Minnesota Women's Volleyball Team started its two-game homestand with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of Augustana Friday night at Romano Gymnasium. The win also secured the series sweep for the Bulldogs over the Vikings. UMD moved to 17-3 overall and 10-3 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action, while Augustana moved to 9-12 on the season and 3-10 in league play.
Madeline Guetzkow hit .368 with 11 kills and
Mollie Rupp had 10 kills and seven digs to pace the Maroon and Gold offensively.
Paige Decker added eight kills and three block assists,
Kylie Broten contributed eight kills, two solo blocks and a block assist, and
Xada Johnson finished with seven kills and nine digs.
Ava Jones had a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs,
Madison Reed had a match-best 14 digs and
Julianne Hon tallied a career-high 12 digs.
As a team, UMD hit .239 compared to Augustana's .103 mark, and had 46 kills to the Vikings' 29 kills. The Bulldogs also held the advantage in assists (42-24), service aces (7-3), digs (56-41) and points (59.0-38.0). The two squads were even on team blocks, each totaling 6.0 team blocks.
UMD easily handled the Vikings in the opening set, winning 25-13 with the Bulldogs hitting .348 and tallying four service aces. The two squads were tied 5-5 early on, but a 6-1 run was the turning point in the set putting the home team ahead 11-6. Another run from the Bulldogs, this time an 11-3 streak, overwhelmed the visitors and put them ahead by 11, 22-10. The Vikings scored three-straight before a kill from Broten, a Rupp service ace and a kill from Johnson gave UMD the win.
In the second set, the Maroon and Gold continued to carry the momentum as it took an early 10-6 lead on a kill from Decker that capped off a 4-0 run. The Bulldogs would then take their largest lead of the set, 15-10, following a kill from Rupp. A 3-0 run from the Vikings cut UMD's lead to two points, 15-13, and from there the two squads would battle within two to three points of each other until Johnson got the final kill heading into the break.
A 6-1 run from UMD to open the third set forced the Vikings into an early timeout. But, the visitors used a 6-1 run to even the set 9-9 and eventually took its first lead 10-9. The Bulldogs fell down by two points, before a serving error brought them back within one, and an ace from Jones evened the set back at 13-13. Johnson gave the lead back to UMD with her sixth kill of the night. From there the home team went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 22-15. The Vikings did not go away quietly, however, as they pulled within two points, 23-21, before kills from Broten and Johnson put a stop to the rally and sealed the match sweep.
The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday when they face No. 6 Wayne State at 4 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium. Members of the team will be signing autographs at the conclusion of the match as part of Camper Appreciation Day.
