Four Bulldogs Earn All NSIC Honors

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

Four Bulldogs received All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors for the University of Minnesota Duluth including two four-year selections as the league’s postseason awards were announced Thursday.

Senior setter Ashley Hinsch earned All-NSIC First Team honors for the fourth time in her career. She had been named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year after taking home the conference’s top honor a season ago. Her 12.7 assists per game rank second in the league behind only Northern State University’s Drew Smith, who received the title of 2015 NSIC Player of the Year. She has knocked down 23 blocks, hauled in 126 digs (2.14/game), and 13 service aces during NSIC play. Entering the final weekend of conference play, she sits just six assists shy of moving into fourth place all-time at UMD for a career.

Senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf received All-NSIC First Team honors for the second time in as many years since cracking the Bulldog starting line-up. She leads the conference knocking down 4.86 kills per game while hitting .352 for UMD in conference play. She’s also knocked down 28 blocks on the season (0.47 per game). Her 1,176 career kills entering the final week of the regular season are ninth-most in a Bulldog career after having not started during her first two seasons with UMD.

The other four-year All-NSIC selection for the Bulldogs is middle blocker Monica Turner, who earned All-NSIC Second Team honors. This season, she topped the Bulldog career blocking list, reaching 375 for her career. She is averaging 0.90 per game and leads the Bulldogs with 10 solo blocks in conference play. She is fifth in the conference hitting .355 on the season and has 118 kills in conference play (2.00/game).

Junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch earned her second career All-NSIC selection backing up last season’s honor. She ranks fourth in the conference hitting .376 overall on the season. In league play, she has averaged 2.36 kills per game and hit .333. She’s also knocked down 53 blocks against conference teams, averaging 0.90 per game.

Joining Turner and Mauch on the second team is freshman right-side hitter Sarah Kelly, who ranks seventh in the league hitting .353 on the season. In league play, she’s knocked down 2.24 kills per game and hit .392, the best of any Bulldog. She has also collected 21 blocks on the season against NSIC foes.

The five selections are tied with Wayne State (Neb.) College and Concordia University, St. Paul for the most among any school. Along with Smith as Player of the Year for Northern State, Wolves bench boss Brent Aldridge received the league’s Coach of the Year honors. Wayne State senior Courtney VanGroningen was named the NSIC Libero of the Year and Southwest Minnesota State University middle hitter Taylor Reiss took home Freshman of the Year honors.

The Bulldogs are back at Romano Gym this weekend and will face Smith, Aldridge, and No. 3 Northern State this Saturday in the regular season finale. First, UMD plays host to Minnesota State University Moorhead and All-NSIC Second Team senior middle hitter Kaitlin VanWinkle on Friday night. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.