UMD Women Sweep Indy

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The third-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth make a clean sweep of its four-match weekend at the University of Indianapolis tournament, picking up a pair of wins on Saturday in Indianapolis.

The Bulldogs swept the host Greyhounds in straight sets and then came from behind to knock off No. 10 Wheeling Jesuit University in match two.

No. 3 UMD (7-1) fell behind two games to none against the tenth-ranked Cardinals falling 25-17 and 25-22, needing a comeback in the second set to make it competitive to that point.

From there, the Bulldogs took control, seizing victory in a 25-23 third set. A back-and-forth fourth set ended 25-21 UMD, and the Bulldogs came back from down 8-5 to have match point at 14-11 and held on to win the fifth and final set 15-13.

Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf once again took control of the Bulldog offense, collecting 20 kills against Wheeling Jesuit and 33 on the day, an average of 4.12 per set. The Bulldogs hit just .217 for the match, and .167 and .133 in the first two sets as the team combined for 28 attack errors in five sets.

The number went just better than Wheeling, which collected 29 errors and hit .164 in the match. UMD got eight blocks from senior middle blocker Monica Turner, who totalled 14 on the day. Junior middle Sydnie Mauch had 16 kills and five blocks in the match.

Senior setter Ashley Hinsch had UMD’s lone service ace and four blocks to go with her 56 assists while sophomore libero Kelly Madison continued to improve on her career marks with 23 digs in the match.

Junior outside Taylor Wissbroecker earned a double-double with 15 digs and 11 kills, putting together one of the best days of her career. The Cardinals were led by Emma Schleucher’s 16 kills. Setter Andrea Thobe had 49 assists and her sister, Jessica Thobe, had 24 digs to lead WJU.

For her offensive punch on the weekend, Mauch was named the tournament’s MVP. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team were Hinsch and Turner. With five straight wins, the Bulldogs enter conference play rolling and will return to their home court this week.

UMD 3, Indianapolis 0
Earlier Saturday, UMD knocked off the host Greyhounds of Indianapolis in straight sets: 25-21, 25-13, 25-23. The Bulldogs controlled the first two sets against their canine rivals, hitting an insane .605 in the second set.

Wissbroecker led the Bulldogs offensively with 13 kills and three blocks. Freshman middle Sarah Kelly had 10 kills, a new career high, and three blocks. Scharf had 13 kills for UMD as well.

Indianapolis made the third set interesting against the Bulldogs holding UMD to a match-low .250 hitting percentage, but had eight errors of their own in the set to help the Bulldogs secure the victory. Becca Lira had nine kills to lead UIndy while setter Natalie Wichern had 30 assists and libero Bri Heffernan had 10 digs. Hinsch had 41 assists for UMD while Madison posted 15 digs.

OUTSIDE HITS
UMD is now 2-0 all-time against the Greyhounds and 5-0 against Wheeling Jesuit … Mauch hit .500 on Saturday and averaged 3.47 kills per set on the weekend … Hinsch averaged 12.12 assists per set on the day and 11.87 on the weekend in Indianapolis … Madison collected 71 total digs on the weekend, an average of 4.73 per set, in her first four starts for the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
UMD will open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference on Thursday night in Duluth when the team plays host to the University of Minnesota, Crookston at Romano Gym. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m. and the match can be seen on My9 Sports Network locally.