GOLDEN, Colo. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team opened the 2015 season with a pair of nonconference wins on Friday at the Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo. MSUM beat Pace University, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-14 and topped Findlay, 27-25, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-6 to open the season at 2-0.

In the opening win over Pace, senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle had 21 kills, hitting an impressive .613 for the match, while sophomore hitter Carly Masloski had a career-high 14 kills. Senior Abby Wolpern had 11 kills while senior setter Casie Baer dished out 52 set assists.  Senior Amber Krenske led with 15 digs while VanWinkle led with six block assists.

After falling in the first set 25-19, the Dragons came out strong in the second set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, with Wolpern providing two kills during that run.  Pace came back to tie the set at 12-12, but the Dragons outscored the Setters 13-8 the rest of the way to earn a 25-20 win.  Five different Dragons had kills during that run, led by Wolpern with two.

The third set was tied at 9-9 before the Dragons scored five consecutive points to take a 14-9 lead they would never relinquish. Masloski had two kills during that run to lead MSUM's attack. The Dragons steadily pulled away from there to earn a 25-16 win.

MSUM stormed out to an 18-6 lead in the fourth set and was never threatened, winning 25-14. VanWinkle had a huge set, recording seven kills, while Masloski had four.

The second match was a back-and-forth thriller before the Dragons got on a run early in the fifth set on their way to the win. Masloski set another career-high with 20 kills, while VanWinkle had 13 and sophomore hitter Claire Grimm 11. Baer had a career-high 55 set assists while Krenske had 25 digs.  Junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf had one block and nine assisted blocks.

With the match tied at two sets apiece, MSUM started strong in the decisive fifth season, going on a 6-0 run to take a lead the Dragons would not surrender. Hartkopf had a kill and two block assists to spark the Dragons. MSUM's lead never dropped below four as it prevailed 15-6.

A big first set from Masloski helped MSUM take a hard-fought first set, 27-25. The sophomore had seven kills and hit .545 for the set. VanWinkle added four kills.

Findlay won the second set 25-20.  MSUM was down 5-2 in the third but scored seven points in a row – which included two assisted blocks and a solo block from Hartkopf.  The set was tied at 20-20 before MSUM seized control, scoring five of the final six points to take a 25-20 win. VanWinkle helped secure the Dragon win with two kills during that final stretch.

Findlay won the fourth set 26-24 to set up the decisive fifth set.

The Dragons wrap up play at the Oredigger Classic on Saturday. The Dragons will face Midwestern State at 11 a.m. Central time and will play Western Oregon at 5:30 p.m. CT.