Lady Bulldogs Sweep Winona

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The third set caused more drama than the No. 2 University of Minnesota Duluth had been used to thusfar in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, but the Bulldogs rallied to knock off Winona State University in straight sets on Friday night in Winona, Minnesota.

UMD (14-1, 7-0 NSIC) trailed 24-23 in the third set, but rallied back to win – eventually – 30-28 over the Warriors (10-3, 5-2 NSIC). The Bulldogs had taken each of the first two sets 25-16.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior setter Ashley Hinsch distributed the ball evenly with 40 assists, as three Bulldogs collected double-kills on the day. Junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf led the way with 14 kills, while senior right side hitter Maddy Siroin almost matched her with 13. Senior outside Katie Ledwell had a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, helping out on the defensive end as well.
• Senior libero Julie Rainey led the way with 18 digs, and senior outside hitter Aly Kujawa also added 10 as defense was a team-wide affair against the hard-hitting Warriors.

The first two sets were relatively drama-free for the Bulldogs as they sailed to a pair of 25-16 victories. The first two sets had just five combined ties scores, and three lead changes. WSU hit -.029 in the first set with six errors compared to five kills, improving that number to .116 the rest of the way to finish at .071 overall. The Bulldogs had just one error as a team, hitting .458 in the second frame, but got themselves in trouble in the third.

UMD commited nine errors in the third and final set, as the Bulldogs put themselves in danger of dropping their first set in 21 tries during the NSIC season, hitting just .196 in the frame. UMD opened early leads – 6-1, and 9-6 after Winona State tied it. The Warriors took their first lead at 14-13, and the two teams traded points until knotted at 20-all. The Bulldogs took a 22-20 lead, but WSU rallied for four of the next five points, forcing the Bulldogs to rally themselves and take a 25-24 lead. The teams traded the next six points as Winona seemed to have an answer for every UMD score, but the Bulldogs eventually secured the game-winner on a mis-hit ball by Warrior freshman outside Taylor Goar.

Goar led the Winona State attack with nine kills on the night. UMD effecitvely quieted the Warriors’ other top attackers, freshmen outside hitter Danielle Rampart and setter McKenna Larsen, who had six kills each. Larsen also notched 20 assists on the night. Sophomore libero Jamie Cairncross had 11 digs. As a team, Winona State had five blocks compared to a pair from the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
UMD continues on the road tomorrow afternoon when the Bulldogs travel to Upper Iowa University with an early start time of 3:00 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa.