Bulldogs Sweep Winona

NSO NEWS RELEASE

Sophomore outside hitter Makenzie Morgen and senior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker picked up where they left off yesterday, leading the University of Minnesota Duluth past Winona State University.

Morgen and Wissbroecker led the Bulldogs with 13 and 10 kills, respectively, but they contributed on the defensive side as well.  Morgen picked up 12 digs, while Wissbroecker dug out 10 Winona State attacks. Senior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch continued pushing closer to the program block record – tallying five blocks to bring her career total to 383, just three shy of Monica Turner‘s record. Freshman setter Emily Torve assisted 36 times, while sophomore libero Erin Schindler recorded a team-best 18 digs. Collectively, the Bulldogs hit .361 to Winona’s .036. UMD led the Warriors 46-25 in kills, 41-24 in assists, 57-33 in digs, and 7-2 in blocks.

The Bulldogs jumped out of the gate firing on all cylinders, crusing to a 25-14 set win. UMD hit a match-high .484 and committed just three attack errors. After an early 4-4 tie, the Bulldogs rattled off the next four points and seven of the next eight. Winona State inched back to 14-8, but again UMD took seven of eight points to post a commanding 21-10 lead. Kills from Mauch and Wissbroecker closed out the opening frame.

The Warrior responded by jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead, but once again the Bulldogs took over – this time by recording eight of the next nine points. UMD would go on to handily win the second set by a score of 25-13. The Bulldogs connected on 13 of 25 attacks, good for a .360 hitting percentage. On the other side of the net, Winona State recorded a match-low -.107 attack percentage, due in part to eight Warrior errors.

After a brief intermission, WSU played its best volleyball of the night to open the third frame. The Warriors ran off a run of five to begin the set, and eventually took seven of the first eight points. UMD was unphased, responding with a four point run of their own to bring the score to 7-5. With Winona State holding a late 20-17 lead, the Bulldogs embarked on their longest run of the match – six straight points to take a 23-20 lead. Shortly after, Wissbroecker picked up her 10th kill of the match to give UMD a sweep over the Warriors.

The Bulldogs conclude the regular season with a 25-3 (17-3 NSIC) record. UMD remains in a tie for third place in the Northern Sun Intecollegiate Conference with Augustana (S.D.) University. With the third seed, the Bulldogs will play host to Wayne State (Neb.) College on Wednesday night.