No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth 3, Minnesota-Crookston 1
DULUTH, Minn. -- For the 22nd consecutive season, Minnesota-Duluth opened conference play with a victory, defeating NSIC foe Minnesota-Crookston in a decisive three-set sweep at Romano Gym on Thursday evening.
The 10-0 Bulldogs, who have won 18 consecutive NSIC openers, hit .395 as a team as they swept the Golden Eagles by scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-14. Sophomore middle blocker Monica Turner led the UMD offensively once again, hitting .684 with 13 kills and no attack errors. She also had five blocks (three solo) as she accounted for nearly one-third of the Bulldogs' points on the evening. Senior outside hitter Kate Lange earned a double-double with 10 each in kills and digs.
Junior libero Julie Rainey had 17 defensive digs for UMD. Sophomore setter Ashley Hinsch had 35 assists on the evening while also scoring two service aces. The Bulldogs held the Eagles to an .057 attack percentage in the match.
No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul 3, Upper Iowa 0
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Concordia Golden Bears (9-1, 1-0 NSIC) extended their winning streak to seven in a 3-0 sweep of the Upper Iowa Peacocks (4-6, 0-1 NSIC). The Golden Bears are now 13-0 all-time against the Peacocks and have won 12 consecutive conference home matches overall.
Koenecke was the only Golden Bear in double digits in kills with 13 while also picking up eight digs. Riley Hanson had an efficient nine kills on just 12 attempts en route to a .667 hitting percentage.
Konetchy was back in the lineup after missing a few sets against Tampa last weekend and had 41 assists and helped guide the Golden Bear offense to a .376 attack percentage. Kara Pioske and Kara Pioske each had 11 digs to lead the Golden Bears.
No. 7 Wayne State (Neb.) 3, Sioux Falls 0
WAYNE, Neb. -- Freshman Alyssa Frauendorfer recorded 16 kills and hit .600 for the match to lead Wayne State (Neb.) to a 3-0 sweep against Sioux Falls on Thursday evening in the Northern Sun Conference volleyball opener for both teams.
The host Wildcats move to 9-0 on the year and 1-0 in the league while the visiting Cougars drop to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC.
Frauendorfer led the Wildcats in hitting with her season-high 16 kills and .600 attack percentage with just one attack error in 25 attempts. Senior Cori Hobbs finished with 14 kills and added 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Sophomores Katie Hughes and Courtney VanGroningen were each credited with 13 digs while sophomore setter Leisa McClintock handed out 42 set assists.
No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State 3, Augustana (S.D.) 1
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Southwest Minnesota State opened Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play Thursday with a 3-1 victory against previously unbeaten Augustana (S.D) in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SMSU won by scores of 25-12, 25-23, 21-25 and 25-21.
SMSU (6-3, 1-0 NSIC) was led by McKell Anderson, who recorded career-high tying 18 kills and a career-high 20 digs, while Abbey Thissen added 14 kills. Rachel Westby led the SMSU defense tying a career-high with 28 digs with Emilee Gutzmer finishing with 50 assists to help pace the offense.
The Mustangs finished the night hitting .181 (59-26-182), while limiting the Vikings to a .158 (42-16-165) hitting percentage.
SMSU has now won 14 consecutive against Augustana, with the Vikings' last victory coming on Sept. 21, 2004. Prior to SMSU's current winning streak in the series, Augustana had won 25 consecutive against SMSU from 1987 to 2004.
