UMD Athletics

The No. 20 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team rallied to reverse sweep Sioux Falls, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12, in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play Saturday afternoon at Romano Gymnasium. The Bulldogs improved to 18-5 on the season and 11-4 in league action with the home victory, and the Cougars dropped to 8-15 overall and 4-11 in conference play.

Freshman Kenzie Keminski hit .432 with a match-high 19 kills and added eight digs to lead the Bulldogs offensively, and senior Madeline Guetzkow added a double-double with 14 kills and 19 digs to go along with three block assists. Junior Elyse Karrels hit .474 with 11 kills and added three block assists, while senior Paige Decker contributed nine kills and five block assists.  

Junior Ava Jones dished out a season-high 52 assists and added 15 digs for her fourth-straight double-double and eighth of the year. Jones also had two kills and two block assists. 

UMD outhit USF, .271 to .140, and held the advantage in kills (68-50), assists (61-44) and digs (60-50). The Cougars had 11.0 total team blocks compared to 8.0 for the Bulldogs. The Maroon and Gold had its best offensive performance in the fourth set, hitting .357 with 15 kills. 

After dropping the first two sets to the Cougars, the Bulldogs bounced back to claim the third and stay alive in the match. UMD jumped out to an early 6-3 lead before USF rallied to even the score at 8-8. A 4-0 run later in the set gave the Bulldogs a 16-12 advantage, but the Cougars closed within one at 16-15. UMD responded with a 5-1 run to extend its lead to 21-16 and held off USF the rest of the way to take the set. 

The two teams were evenly matched through the first 14 points of the fourth set before USF used a 5-0 run to take a 12-7 lead and force a UMD timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a 4-0 run to pull within one, 12-11, before a Kiminski kill finally tied the set at 13-13. A Guetzkow kill gave UMD a 15-13 lead and forced a USF timeout. Later, a 5-0 run behind the serving of redshirt sophomore Georgia Koscielak extended the Bulldogs' advantage to 24-18. USF pulled within four, but a kill from Jones closed out the set and evened the match at two sets apiece. 

Three coaches' challenges came within the first four points of the fifth set, with UMD holding a 3-1 lead. USF rallied to tie the score at 3-3 before a Decker kill put the Bulldogs back in front and a kill from Xada Johnson extended the advantage to 5-3. The visitors responded with a 4-1 run to take their first lead at 7-6, but back-to-back points from Karrels gave UMD a 8-7 advantage. Kiminski then led the Bulldogs on a 5-3 run with three kills to put UMD ahead 13-11. A Decker kill gave the Bulldogs match point at 14-12 before Johnson sealed the victory with her ninth kill of the match. 

It was the first reverse-sweep win for UMD since Sept. 19, 2025 vs. Sioux Falls at Romano Gymnasium. 

The Bulldogs conclude their three-match homestand Tuesday, Oct. 27 when they welcome MSU Moorhead to Romano Gymnasium for a 6 p.m. conference match.