UMD Sweeps Crookston

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

 
The University of Minnesota Duluth opened its five-game road swing with a quick victory, knocking off the University of Minnesota-Crookston in straight sets in a Tuesday night Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference showdown.

No. 2 UMD (11-1, 4-0 NSIC) once again took down an opponent 3-0 as the team has in each of its victories this season. The Bulldogs got stronger as the night went on against the Golden Eagles (7-4, 1-3 NSIC), winning the sets – 25-23, 25-16, 25-10.

HIGHLIGHTS
Senior libero Julie Rainey hauled in 18 digs on the night, falling just short of the 20 needed to hit 2,000 for her career. Rainey, UMD’s career leader for defensive saves, will find herself 300 above the next highest Bulldog if she adds just five digs to her career total.
Junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf and junior middle blocker Monica Turner led the UMD offense with 18 and 15 kills on the night, respectively. Turner continued her strong play, hitting .700 on the night, while adding a pair of blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Sydnie Mauch added eight kills and three blocks on the night.

The Golden Eagles gave the Bulldogs a run in the first set, as UMD opened an early 5-2 lead before Crookston had to answer back to tie it up. The opener saw nine ties, and three lead changes, including as late as 23-all before the Bulldogs scored the final two points. The second set started out with much of the same back-and-forth all the way to a 14-14 knot, but the Bulldogs scored the next four and 10 of the next 11 points to run away with the set. Senior outside hitter Kaite Ledwell scored a pair of service aces, and Scharf had three of the final five points to close out the Golden Eagles.

UMD continued its roll, scoring four straight points to start the third game, eventually opening a 10-2 lead and continuing to pull away throughout the night with Turner notching the final two points. Bulldog junior setter Ashley Hinsch finished with 43 assists on the night. On the other side, the Eagles got 21 assists on the night from sophomore setter Sierra Trost. Senior middle hitter Morgan VanGerpen led the way with eight kills on the night. As a squad, Crookston hit just .116 while UMD hit .376.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs continue on the road this weekend against a pair of ranked foes in No. 21 Augustana (S.D.) College and No. 17 Wayne State (Neb.) College. UMD starts the weekend Friday in Sioux Falls at 7:00 p.m.