Head coach
Jim Boos secured his 600th career win as the No. 20 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team swept the University of Minnesota Crookston, 25-13, 25-21, 25-12, in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action Saturday afternoon at Romano Gymnasium. The sweep was the ninth-straight for the Bulldogs and improved their season record to 13-1 and its league record to 6-0.
"I've been surrounded by great people throughout my career," Boos said of his 600th win. "Having an assistant coach who has been with me as long as
Christyn May has provided a lot of continuity and consistency in the program from year to year. I've also had some great people on the sideline along the way, including
Kate Sterns, Natalie Pedersen, Steven Novacek and our volunteers. All of those people have helped me get to this point.
"Obviously, we've also had some really talented young women and teams that have worked hard, bought into the program and put wins on the board. I'm proud of the entire program and everything everyone has accomplished over these 25 years."
Senior
Madeline Guetzkow starred for UMD offensively, as she led all players with 17 kills on .667 hitting. Freshman
Kenzie Kiminski contributed nine kills and six digs for the Maroon and Gold, while senior
Paige Decker added seven kills. She also paced the team defensively with four block assists.
Junior setter
Ava Jones had a double-double with 36 assists and a match-high 11 digs, while also tallying three service aces.
Jones helped UMD hit .364 as a team with 43 kills, which included a .469 hitting percentage with 18 kills in the first set. The Golden Eagles (3-11, 1-5 NSIC) were held to a .100 hitting percentage in the contest with just 25 kills, including a -.133 hitting percentage in the third set.
After cruising to a win in the first set behind seven kills from Guetzkow and six digs from senior
Madison Reed, the second set proved to be a little more challenging for the home team. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as three points early on, 7-4, but managed to even it up 7-7 thanks to a 3-0 run behind the serving of Jones. UMD then took a three-point lead 13-10 following a kill from Decker to force a Minnesota Crookston timeout.
A 7-1 run from the Golden Eagles put the Bulldogs behind by three points, 17-14, but a kill from Kiminski, an ace from
Georgia Koscielak and a kill from
Kendra Behrens eventually tied the score at 18-18. From there, the Maroon and Gold would string together an 8-3 run, which included three kills from Kiminski, two kills from Guetzkow and one kill from Decker to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Jones served the Bulldogs to a 4-0 start to open the third set and they would never relinquish the lead. The closest that Minnesota Crookston would get to catching UMD was 7-5, but that stretched to 14-8 after another 4-0 run behind the serving of Jones.
Grace Borys and
Brooke Aslakson would come in to help the Bulldogs extend their lead to 23-11 with a string of serves and a block assist, respectively, before
Ella Chandler sealed the set and match win with a service ace.
UMD is back in action Tuesday, Sept. 29 at MSU Moorhead. First serve is set for 6 p.m. from Nemzeck Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn. The match will be broadcast live on Midco Sports.
