Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team's hopes for a second straight win were dashed on Friday night as the Dragons were swept by No. 2-ranked Minnesota Duluth, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action in Duluth, Minn.

MSUM fell to 11-7 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC with the loss, while the Bulldogs, whose only loss is a five-set defeat at the hands of No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, improved to 19-1 overall and 9-1 in the league.

Junior Annie Palmquist led MSUM with eight kills, while junior Maggie Gruber and sophomore Abby Wolpern had five each. Junior setter Sam Sullivan had 13 set assists while sophomore Casie Baer added 12. Sophomore Amber Krenske had 11 digs, while sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle had two solo blocks and four assists.

UMD hit .306 for the match, compared to .070 for the Dragons.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and controlled play the rest of the way. MSUM was within 15-9 but got no closer as the Bulldogs prevailed 25-17.

The Dragons got off to a better start in the second set and battled to an 8-8 tie after a kill from freshman Brianna Atkins.  UMD scored six of the next seven points to build a 14-9 lead. and then pushed the lead to as many as nine on it way to a 25-17 win.

In the third set, UMD took a 5-1 lead but MSUM cut the gap to 11-9 after a Palmquist kill. But UMD  went on an 8-1 run to take a 19-10 lead on its way to a 25-18 win.

Freshman Katie Meyers had eight digs, while sophomore Morgan Gradishar had seven digs and three block assists.

MSUM plays at St. Cloud State on Saturday to wrap up the weekend. The match begins at 4 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minn.