College volleyball: UMD moves to 4-0 with two more sweeps

It took Minnesota Duluth’s volleyball team less than two hours Saturday to run its record to 4-0 in Houghton, Mich., where the Bulldogs blitzed Lake Superior State 25-9, 25-7, 25-8 in 47 minutes and Michigan Tech 25-16, 25-13, 25-21 in 66 minutes.
Third-ranked UMD, which has yet to drop a set through four matches, jumped all over the Lakers (1-4), with Ashley Hinsch leading the charge with 36 set assists. Taylor Wissbroecker and Jessica Zieman had 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
In the nightcap, Mariah Scharf produced 17 kills, Hinsch had 42 assists and Julie Rainey added 20 digs against the Huskies (1-4).
The Bulldogs, who beat Wisconsin-Parkside a day earlier in Houghton, are off until Friday when they head to Denver for four matches against some of the nation’s best teams. In addition to Regis (Colo.) and Metro State (Colo.), they will meet No. 4 BYU-Hawaii and second-ranked Tampa.

St. Scholastica swept at home

Laura Schmitt and Lexi Rinde had 11 kills apiece to lead Saint Benedict’s 25-22, 25-20, 25-12 sweep of St. Scholastica in a nonconference match Saturday at Reif Gymnasium.
Taya Kockelman quarterbacked a balanced attack with 36 set assists for the Blazers (3-2), who are ranked 13th in NCAA Division III.
Duluthian Gloria Ohaju led the Saints (2-3) with eight kills.

UWS splits in St. Paul

Wisconsin-Superior swept Crown College on Saturday afternoon at the Hamline tournament before suffering the same fate against the tourney hosts in the evening.
A decisive victory in the first set of the opener turned into a 25-8, 25-19, 25-18 win for the Yellowjackets, who received nine kills from Desirae Marcott and 25 set assists from Keely Deadrick while keeping Crown (0-4) winless.
It was a different story later on as a tight first set went to Hamline, which kept plugging away en route to a 30-28, 25-21, 25-20 triumph over UWS (5-3). Stephanie Bandelin led the Yellowjackets with 12 kills, while her former Esko teammate Deadrick added 29 more set assists.
Lynsey Reimer had 24 digs for the Pipers (6-0), who remained perfect to start the season.