Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Sophomores Morgan Gradishar and Amber Krenske each had 17 digs to help the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team sweep Winona State, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.

The Dragons improved to 14-8 overall and 7-7 in the NSIC with their second straight win, while Winona State fell to 8-15 overall and 5-9 in the NSIC.

MSUM is now tied for seventh in the NSIC with Minnesota Crookston with six conference matches left. The top eight teams in the league qualify for the postseason tournament.

Gradishar also added eight kills for MSUM. Sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle had a strong all-around match with nine kills (.333 hitting percentage) to go with two solo blocks and nine block assists. Freshman Brianna Atkins had seven kills and hit .316 for the match. Junior Sam Sullivan had 17 set assists while sophomore Casie Baer had 10. Junior Maggie Gruber had four kills, one solo block and four assisted blocks for MSUM, which finished with 14 team blocks.

The Dragons had a 14-6 edge in total blocks and also hit .208, compared to .052 for Winona State.

"Our blocking and offense were big keys today," MSUM head coach Tammy Blake said. "We hit for a good percentage and our defense forced them into some hitting errors."

MSUM trailed 6-5 early in the first set but seized the momentum with a 12-2 spurt to take a 17-8 lead. Atkins had two kills during the run, while Gruber and sophomore Abby Wolpern had two block assists each during the run.  The Warriors cut the gap to 23-17, but a kill from junior Annie Palmquist, followef by a Winona State error, clinched a 25-17 Dragon victory in the opening set.

The second set was tied at 13-13 before the Dragons scored seven of the next nine points to surge into a 20-15 lead. VanWinkle had a kill and two block assists during the run while Palmquist had a kill and a block assist. Winona State battled back to within 24-21 but a service error on set piont ended the Warriors' hopes, giving MSUM a 25-21 win.

The Dragons started the third set strong with an 8-2 run -- led by two kills from Gradishar and two block assists and a solo block from VanWinkle. Winona State came back and eventually led 20-19 before the Dragons turned the tide with five straight points -- which included kills from Wolpern and VanWinkle -- to take a 24-20 lead. One poitn later, VanWinkle slammed home a thunderous kill to wrap up a 25-21 Dragon win and completing the sweep.

Sullivan added nine digs for MSUM while freshman Katie Meyers had seven. Wolpern had four block assists to go with three kills.

The Dragons are on the road the next two weekends. They open that stretch with a match at No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday.