MOORHEAD, Minn. - Forty-one kills were registered by the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons volleyball team in their win over the Adelphi Panthers in their first match of the Dragon Classic sponsored by the Fairfield Inn by Marriott at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse on Friday. In the second match the Dragons fought a hard battle against the Northern State Wolves but could not edge their opponent as they lost 3-1.

The Dragons spread the ball around the court as four athletes had seven or more kills in the match. Senior Laura Tvrdik led the team with nine kills, while sophomore Heidi Lensing and freshman Kayla Handevidt each tallied eight, and freshman Ashley Feldman picked up seven.

The key to the win for the Dragons was outhitting their opponent which they did every set, including a match hitting percentage of .242 to the Panthers .132.

The Dragons were also big on defense with 58 digs they also had one solo block and 16 block assists in the match. Handevidt led the defense at the net as she tallied the solo block and four assists. Feldman and Tvrdik also each had four block assists. Seniors Leigh Splittstoesser and Ashley Pyffereon each had 15 digs in the match to lead MSUM.

Running a 6-2, the Dragons were set up by two setters in Splittstoesser and Anna Olson, who had 14 and 13 assists, respectively in the match.

MATCH ONE      1    2    3
Dragons            25   25   25
Panthers           22   15   22

MATCH TWO
The WOlves jumped out to a 1-0 lead as they captured the momentum in game one, taking the first set 25-16.

The Dragons fought back with a win in the second set as picked up 16 kills, including five by Lensing to take the set 25-22.

Set three was a battle for both teams as the deciding factor came after the 25-25 mark, with the Wolves capitalizing on a Dragon error to go up 27-26, with Whitney Morsching attacking the ball for a kill and a 2-1 lead for the visiting team. NSU carried this momentum into the fourth set to take the victory (25-20).

The Dragons were led by Lensing who had 11 kills in the match. Both Tvrdik and Pyferreon had nine kills. Katy Ness led the team with 17 digs on defense while Handevidt again picked up one solo block and five assisted blocks on the evening.

The Dragons will host both Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Minot State (N.D.) in the second day of the Dragon Classic in Alex Nemzek Hall. The Dragons will face the Panthers at 12:30 p.m. and the Beavers at 5:30 p.m.  To view the live stats CLICK HERE, to watch the live streaming CLICK HERE.