Minnesota, Crookston put up a fight at Romano Gym Thursday night, but couldn’t keep the No. 1 UMD volleyball team from rolling to a straight set win to open conference play. The Bulldogs (10-0, 1-0 NSIC) took care of the Golden Eagles with double-digit victories in all three sets (25-13, 25-10, 25-14) and extended their all-time mark against Minnesota, Crookston to 21-0.
After leading UMD in kills in each of the first eight matches, senior outside hitter Kate Lange finished behind sophomore middle blocker Monica Turner for a second straight outing. Turner finished with 13, Lange had 10 and junior middle blocker Maddy Siroin chipped in eight.
Sophomore setter Ashley Hinsch served up 35 assists to lead all players, while junior libero Julie Rainey set the pace defensively with 17 digs.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to 3-1 advantages in each of the first two sets, but UMD strung together several five- and six-point scoring runs to reverse the momentum. The Bulldogs controlled the final frame wire-to-wire.
UMD will set out on its first NSIC road assignment of the fall Saturday afternoon at Bemidji State. A victory would inch head coach Jim Boos within one of tying Pati Rolf’s school record for wins, and would give Boos the opportunity to tie Rolf at home Tuesday against St. Cloud State.
BY KYLE FARRIS farri060@d.umn.edu - PHOTO BY NIKKI DEGENEFFE degen022@d.umn.edu