We are part of The Trust Project.
No. 4 Minnesota Duluth came out flying from nearly the first ball, quickly putting away Sioux Falls 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Friday at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul.
The Cougars won the first two points, but UMD took the next seven, setting a tone for a match in which the Bulldogs never trailed by more than two points and rarely trailed at all.
In the second set, UMD jumped out to a 10-3 advantage and kept going, as Sioux Falls hit .000 (equal number of kills and attack errors) over the first two sets, while posting a .261 mark over the same period.
Sioux Falls had its best set of the match in the third, hitting .267, but UMD won the first three points and never trailed, though they never led by more than four. Sioux Falls was within 23-21 when the set approached its conclusion, but Sydney Lanoue and Cianna Selbitschka provided kills on consecutive points to finish it off.
Samantha Paulsen led UMD with 11 kills, while Selbitschka added 10 and Lanoue nine. Madison Gordon had 34 assists. Selbitschka led UMD with 12 digs. The Bulldogs outblocked the Cougars 12-4.
ADVERTISEMENT
UMD (26-3) will meet host and second-seeded Concordia-St. Paul in Saturday's semifinals in what is also a meeting of the No. 3 and 4 teams in the country. No. 9 St. Cloud State will meet Augustana in the other semi after the Vikings stunned regular-season champion and national No. 2 Wayne State in five sets.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Bulldogs start regular season with a win
Minnesota Duluth put six players, including all five starters, in double figures to start its regular season with a home victory, 93-74 over Southern Arkansas on Friday night at Romano Gym on night one of the American Family Insurance Classic.
UMD trailed 19-12 in the early going but went on a 20-6 run late in the first half to build a double-digit lead, and expanded it to 48-31 at the break. Most of the rest of the game was played with a gap in the high teens.
Austin Andrews paced the Bulldogs with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, plus five assists. Joshua Strong and Charlie Katona added 17 points each, Drew Blaire and Jack Middleton both scored 14 and Lincoln Meister added 10 points off the bench. UMD shot 56.5% (35 of 62) from the field.
LaTreavin Black led Southern Arkansas with 14 pounds and seven rebounds.
UMD (1-0) will play Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 3 p.m.
