MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team hosted the No. 2-ranked team in the nation Saturday afternoon when Minnesota Duluth visited Moorhead. The Dragons took the first set in the match before the Bulldogs came back firing and took the next three sets. The set scores went 17-25, 25-13, 25-19, and 25-19.

With the loss, the Dragons drop to 10-13 overall and 5-10 in the NSIC. UMD improves to 22-1 overall and 15-0 in conference play.

Leading the way for MSUM was junior Kaitlin VanWinkle, who had 13 kills and hit .345 on 29 attack attempts. She also led the team with 3 total blocks. Junior Casie Baer had 22 assists while junior Amber Krenske added 13 digs. UMD was led by Ashley Hinsch who had 50 assists, four kills, and eight digs.

The first set was tied 9-9 when MSUM when scored six straight points on three Bulldog attack errors, two kills from junior Abby Wolpern, and a kill from sophomore Kelsey Hartkopf. The Dragon held onto its lead and took the set 25-17 on a kill from freshman Claire Grimm.

The Bulldogs came out seeking revenge in the second set, scoring the first four points of the set and ultimately jumped out to a 13-2 lead. The Dragons fought to close the deficit to 20-13 on a kill from Wolpern, but UMD scored the final five points to take the set 25-13.

MSUM utilized a seven-point stretch to jump out to an 8-4 lead, partly thanks to numerous Bulldog attack errors.  UMD called a timeout to regroup and gained the momentum, taking the lead at 12-11 on a kill from Hinsch. The Bulldogs continued their momentum and won the set 25-19 after a kill from Monica Turner.

The Dragons fell behind 10-5 in the fourth set after two attack errors and had trouble getting back to even the rest of the set. The Dragons never got within three points after that point and the Bulldogs took the set and the match after a kill from Mariah Scharf.

The Dragons will next take the court when it hosts Northern State this Tuesday, October 28. Match start time is set for 7 p.m. from Nemzek Fieldhouse.