Freshman outside hitter Kenzie Kiminski and junior setter Ava Jones made their marks on the University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team's undefeated opening weekend, earning UP North All-Tournament Team honors after helping the Bulldogs go 4-0 at the tournament hosted by Northern Michigan at Vandament Arena.

Kiminski was one of the Bulldogs' top offensive weapons throughout the weekend, leading the team with 3.53 kills and 3.97 points per set, while adding 2.07 digs and 0.73 blocks per set.
The Floodwood, Minn., native made an immediate impact in her collegiate debut, recording a double-double with 22 kills on .302 hitting and 12 digs against Michigan Tech. She followed with 16 kills, eight digs and six total blocks in a four-set win over Northern Michigan before closing the weekend with 12 kills and eight digs on .455 hitting in a sweep of Tiffin.

For Kiminski, the production came while making the transition from a career middle hitter to a six-rotation outside hitter at the Division II level.

"I think the big thing that people need to understand is that Kenzie comes from a very small Class A high school in Floodwood, which is certainly going to be different from Division II volleyball," head coach Jim Boos said. "We have also moved her from being a career middle hitter to a six-rotation outside hitter, so for her to play like this in her first weekend as a Division II athlete and to lead us in kills in three of the four matches says a lot about the competitor that she is and how athletically gifted she is. We certainly couldn't be happier with the way she came out this weekend and performed."

Jones was equally instrumental in UMD's 4-0 start, directing an offense that hit .269 over the four matches. The junior averaged 11.47 assists per set and finished the weekend with 172 assists, 27 digs, 10 service aces and six total blocks.

Jones opened the season with 50 assists, nine digs, three service aces and two blocks against Michigan Tech, then added 39 assists, eight digs, two service aces and two solo blocks against Cal State East Bay. She closed the tournament with 41 assists against Northern Michigan and 42 against Tiffin, adding four service aces and three kills against the Wildcats and four kills and four digs against the Dragons.

"A couple weeks into preseason, we hadn't really gotten things into sync and the offense wasn't quite humming like we would want," Boos said. "But, over the course of this tournament, it got better as we went along, and Ava was a big part of that with her decisions, her set tempo and her location."

The Bulldogs return to action Sept. 4-5 at the Royce Cappis Volleyball Tournament, hosted by CSU Pueblo. UMD will face Fort Lewis College, CSU Pueblo, Adelphi and Florida Tech during the tournament.