Four University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball (5-0, 0-0 NSIC) players finished with double-digit kills to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15, 15-9) home-opening win over Michigan Tech (2-2) at Romano Gymnasium Thursday night in the first match of the Up North Preseason Tournament.
 
Senior middle blocker Kylie Broten led the home team with a career-high 15 kills and nine total blocks, while junior right side hitter Madeline Guetzkow added 12 kills and a team-best 18 digs for her third double-double of the season.  Fellow junior Paige Decker had 10 kills and seven total blocks and freshman outside hitter Mollie Rupp tallied career-highs with 10 kills and eight digs.
 
Sophomore setter Ava Jones had 47 assists, six digs and four block assists, extending her streak of 40+ assists to five matches. Madison Reed had 17 digs, four assists and a service ace.
 
The Bulldogs improved on their hitting percentage in each set, finishing with a .438 mark in the finale. They concluded the game with a .173 mark to Michigan Tech's .101 attack percentage. UMD also had seven more total team blocks than the Huskies, 17.0-10.0.
 
After a slow start that saw the Bulldogs fall in the opening set 25-19, they bounced back to take the second-set victory, 25-22. The two squads were even through the first 14 points, 7-7, but a 5-0 run from the Huskies put UMD behind 12-7. The Maroon and Gold put together its own 5-1 run to even the score 17-17 and extended the run to eventually lead by three points, 20-17. Michigan Tech made it interesting, however, taking a 22-21 lead late in the set, but back-to-back kills from Broten and a service ace from Winchell helped close out the set.
 
A back-and-forth third set saw the Huskies come out on top, 25-22, but again the Bulldogs had an answer. The home team found its groove in the fourth set, cruising to a 25-15 win behind four kills and six digs from sophomore Xada Johnson and four kills and two block assists from Guetzkow. Johnson finished the match with seven kills and 10 digs. UMD improved its hitting percentage to .323 in the set, committing only three errors on 31 attempts, while Michigan Tech hit just .028.
 
The momentum stayed with UMD into the fifth set and it once again improved its hitting percentage to .438, tallying 10 kills on 16 attempts with just three errors. Broten hit .800 with four kills and two block assists in the deciding frame, and Rupp and Guetzkow added three and two kills, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs will take on Adelphi on the second day of the Up North Preseason Tournament Friday at 6 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium.