Senior middle blocker
Paige Decker posted a career-high 23 kills to lead the No. 23 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team to a four-set victory at No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State, 29-31, 25-19, 26-24, 25-21, Tuesday night in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Tournament at PE Gym in Marshall, Minn. The win improved the sixth-seeded Bulldogs' record to 22-7 on the season, while the third-seeded Mustangs dropped to 21-7 overall.
Decker was one of three Bulldogs to finish the match with double-figure kills, as fellow senior
Madeline Guetzkow tallied a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs and freshman
Kenzie Kiminski added a double-double with 11 kills and a career-best 20 digs. Junior
Xada Johnson had eight kills and three block assists and sophomore
Kendra Behrens added seven kills and three total blocks.
Senior
Madison Reed led all players with a season-high 25 digs, and junior
Ava Jones notched a season-high 58 assists to go along with three kills, eight digs, two blocks and a service ace.
The Bulldogs and the Mustangs combined for 129 kills in the match, with UMD holding a 70-59 advantage over the league leaders. The Maroon and Gold also held the edge in assists (64-57), service aces (5-4) and digs (85-76). SMSU held the advantage in hitting percentage (.236-.220) and total team blocks (13.0-9.0), but had 12 service errors to just three for the Bulldogs.
UMD dropped a marathon first set that required 60 points to decide and featured 23 ties and nine lead changes. Neither team held a lead of more than two points throughout the frame. The Bulldogs trailed 23-21 late but responded with a service error and a kill from Johnson to even the score at 23-23. After SMSU took a 26-25 lead with back-to-back points, UMD answered with consecutive kills from Johnson and Guetzkow to regain the advantage, 27-26. The set remained tied at 29-29 following a Decker kill, but a service error and a Mustang kill finally gave the home team the set.
Decker had eight kills in the opening set to pace the offense, with Kiminski adding four kills and six digs and Guetzkow posting four kills and four digs.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the second set and never looked back, cruising to a 25-19 victory. UMD built its largest lead of the set at 13-6 on a kill from
Elyse Karrels and matched that advantage at 18-11 following a Kiminski kill, forcing SMSU to call a timeout. The Mustangs trimmed the deficit to five, 20-15, but kills from Jones and Guetzkow, combined with a pair of SMSU service errors, helped the Bulldogs close out the set, 25-19, and even the match at 1-1.
UMD hit .306 in the second set, led by five kills from Guetzkow and three kills each from Decker and Jones.
The third set remained close early, with neither team able to gain separation until SMSU used a 6-2 run to take a 13-8 lead. A three-point run, highlighted by a service ace from Guetzkow, brought the Bulldogs within two, 13-11. Back-to-back kills from Decker cut the deficit to one, 14-13, before a block from Behrens and Johnson evened the score at 15-15. A Guetzkow kill gave UMD its first lead since early in the set, 17-16.
The teams traded points from there until kills from Guetzkow and Kiminski put the Bulldogs ahead 22-21. An SMSU block evened the score, but back-to-back kills from Decker gave the Maroon and Gold a 24-22 advantage. The Mustangs answered with a kill and a block to tie the set at 24-24, but another Decker kill followed by a block from Johnson and Behrens sealed the set and gave UMD the match advantage.
Decker once again paced the offense with six kills on .667 hitting, with Johnson and Kiminski contributing four kills apiece.
UMD jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the fourth set and maintained its advantage at 16-13 before the Mustangs used a 7-3 run to take a late 20-19 lead. The teams remained tied at 21-21 before the Bulldogs closed out the set with a decisive 4-0 run. Kiminski contributed two kills during the stretch, followed by a Decker kill and the match-winning point from
Karsyn Winchell to secure the set and match victory.
The Bulldogs will face second-seeded No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul in the NSIC Tournament Semifinals Friday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Rice Arena in Wayne, Neb.
