WINONA, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team opened the 2013 season with a pair of sweeps on Friday at the Winona State tournament. The Dragons swept Michigan Tech, 25-22, 26-24, 25-16 and also swept Northwest Missouri State, 25-18, 25-21, 29-27.

It is the second straight year MSUM has started the season 2-0.

In the win over Michigan Tech, sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle paced the hitting corps with 10 kills, hitting an impressive .421 in 19 attempts. Sophomore Morgan Gradishar and freshman Brianna Atkins each had seven kills, while juniors Maggie Gruber and Annie Palmquist each collected five. Sophomore Casie Baer had 15 set assists while junior Sam Sullivan had 13. Sophomore Amber Krenske had a match-high 19 digs with Gradishar chipping in with 15.

"The match was wonderful; it was a great effort by our defense," MSU head coach Tammy Blake said.

In the first set, MSUM trailed 13-12 but snuck into the lead with a 6-1 spurt to take an 18-14 lead. The run was spurred by two kills from VanWinkle and service aces from Krenske and freshman Katie Meyers.

Michigan Tech was within 23-22, but MSUM closed the set strong with back-to-back kills from Palmquist and VanWinkle to seal a 25-22 win.

The Dragons led for much of the second set before Michigan Tech took a 20-19 lead. The Huskies led 24-22 but MSUM staved off back-to-back set points and rallied to take a 26-24 win. VanWinkle and Palmquist put down back-to-back kills for the final two sets.

MSUM carried the momentum from the second-set rally into a strong start to the third set. The Dragons stormed out to a 17-7 lead and were never threatened in a 25-16 win.

In the win over NWMS, Gruber paced MSUM with 11 kills, while Palmquist had eight and VanWinkle had seven. Sullivan had 14 set assists while Baer had 11. Krenske had 18 digs while Gradishar had 11 and Meyers 10.

MSUM got rolling early against the Bearcats, jumping out to a 12-5 lead, thanks to a big serving run from Gradishar. During a 7-2 run which saw the Dragons build the lead, Palmquist had two kills, while Atkins had a kill and two blocks.

NWMS got as close as 21-18 but the Dragons finished strong with four straight points to earn the win. Palmquist had two more kills while Atkins added another block.

The second set was tied at 18-18 before MSUM scored three straight points to take the lad for good. VanWinkle and Gruber had kills during the key stretch. The Dragons capitalized on a series of Bearcat errors to take the 25-21 win.

The Dragons moved to a 6-1 lead to start the third set, with Gradishar, sophomore Abby Wolpern and Gruber supplying kills, while Krenske added a service ace. However, NWMS came back to tae a 16-15 lead and actually led 24-21 and had five set points -- all of which MSUM survived. With the set tied at 27-27, Gradishar served an ace, followed by a kill from Gruber, to give the Dragons a hard-fought 29-27 win to complete the sweep of the match.

"In the third set we came back from a 24-21 deficit to win the match 29-27," Blake said. "Once again strong defense played a role in the win."

MSUM will face a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foes in nonconference matches on Saturday to wrap up the tournament. The Dragons will face Upper Iowa at 11 a.m. and conclude the event against Winona State at 7:30 p.m.