UMD Sweeps in Volleyball

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth lost just one match at Romano Gymnasium during the 2013 regular season, and the Bulldogs used their first opportunity against Northern State University to avenge that loss with a 3-0 clean sweep victory in Aberdeen, S.D. on Friday night.

No. 2 UMD (21-1, 14-0 NSIC) continued its 15-match winning streak alive with set victories of 25-17, 26-24, and 25-21 — halting Northern State’s  (RV, 15-7, 8-6 NSIC) streak of three wins in a row since falling out of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time this season two weeks ago.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior setter Ashley Hinsch spread the ball around to the tune of 38 assists while adding eight digs. Senior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin had a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, while junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf led the way with 16 digs.
• Along with Hinsch and Siroin’s dig numbers, the Bulldogs were led by senior libero Julie Rainey‘s 18 and senior outside hitter Katie Ledwell‘s 12. Senior outside hitter Aly Kujawa added seven as seven UMD players had multiple digs on the night.

The first two sets were made more interesting by Bulldog errors as UMD hit .184 in the opening frame and just .040 in the second, collecting 20 errors before the break. Luckily for the Bulldogs, Northern State proved worse, hitting just .109 for the match and posting a -.019 attack percentage in the second set. The Wolves were led by NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Kelsey Chambers offensively, as the sophomore outside hitter knocked down 11 kills to lead NSU. Junior setter Drew Smith, second in the nation in assists per set behind Hinsch, finished with 28 on the night to go with 12 digs. The team also got 27 combined digs from its two defensive specialists, Renee Hoffman and Annika van Oosbree.

UP NEXT
UMD continues on the road tomorrow afternoon as the Bulldogs travel to Minnesota State University-Moorhead for another NSIC match-up. Opening serve is set for 4:00 p.m.