UMD Tops Wayne State

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The University of Minnesota Duluth needed five sets for the first time all season, but the no. 2-ranked Bulldogs came back to defeat No. 11 Wayne State (Neb.) College 3-2 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match-up on Friday evening.

UMD (24-1, 17-0 NSIC) extends its 18-match winning streak and took a step towards securing home court advantage in NSIC Tournament in two weeks. With a season sweep of Wayne State (21-5, 13-4 NSIC), the Bulldogs can finish no lower than second with three matches remaining on the conference schedule. UMD took Friday’s match by the thinnest of margins with a single match point in the fifth set (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 21-25, and 15-13).

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf knocked down a career-high 26 kills for UMD and had just three errors on the night for a .451 hitting percentage. Senior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin (15) and sophomore middle blocker Sydnie Mauch (14) also hit doubles digits as junior setter Ashley Hinsch had 63 assists and a double-double with 15 digs on the night. Siroin also had a double-double with 12 digs.
• Senior outside Katie Ledwell had 24 digs to lead UMD and just missed a double-double with nine kills. Five Bulldogs in all hit double-digit digs with senior libero Julie Rainey adding 23 and senior outside Aly Kujawa adding 15. UMD was also tough at the net with 13 blocks on the night, including five solo, led by Mauch with a pair while sophomore outside Taylor Wissbroecker may have had the biggest as the Bulldogs took a lead late in the five set.

Wayne State gave UMD a test it hadn’t experienced all season, jumping out to leads of 7-3 and 16-10 in the opening set before the Bulldogs came back to knot the score at 19-all. The Wildcats would hang on, though, and take a first game from UMD for just the second time all season. Service errors cost the Bulldogs early and throughout as the team amounted 13 on the match. UMD returned the favor in the second set winning by an identical 25-23 score as errors amounted for both teams. Wayne State had 25 attack errors in the match and hit just .150 as a team despite double-digit kill performances from three players  led by Michaela Mestl’s 14.

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead with a strong 25-19 victory that saw just three early lead changes before UMD rolled to the finish, but the Wildcats answered by jumping out to an 8-3 lead in the third before holding on to eventual take the final three points to second the match to a five set. Wayne looked ready to take the match with an early 4-7 lead when freshman defensive specialist Kelly Madison took the serve, and UMD rolled off seven straight points to take a 12-7 lead. Siroin had three kills, and the Bulldogs knocked down three blocks with Mauch and Wissbroecker each collecting solos. Wissbroecker also nailed down her only kill of the match that gave the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead. Wayne scored six of the next seven points, but UMD knocked down the final two to clinch the team’s first five-set win of the season, 15-13.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs won’t have much time to reflect as Augustana (S.D.) College (RV) comes to town for another tough NSIC match-up. The Bulldogs can wrap up conference gold and home court advantage throughout the NSIC tournament with a victory over the Vikings. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.