DULUTH, Minn. – MSU Moorhead fell victim to a quick start from seventh-ranked Minnesota Duluth on the road Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs handled the Dragons 3-0 in NSIC play.
Minnesota Duluth would open up the first set on a 9-3 run thanks to five kills and two service aces.
Bridget Witzmann,
Raiah Mandell and
Maci Martini would all slam down kills following that run to bring the Dragons to within four points (13-9). That is the closest MSUM would come in the first frame despite a string of Bulldog errors. The Dragons would hit .095 for the set to Duluth's .400 as the Bulldogs won the first set 25-15. Witzmann led the Dragons with three kills in the frame.
The Bulldogs would continue to see success in the second set as they would gather an early 8-3 lead. That margin would stretch to seven points before MSUM responded with a 3-0 run highlighted by a kill from Mandell, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Minnesota Duluth would come out of the timeout and push their lead to 20-12.
Tori Thompson would spike back-to-back kills following that run to cut the lead to 20-14. While
Bridget Witzmann would earn a pair of kills and a service ace late in the set, it was not enough to overcome the Bulldogs. The home team would take set two 25-20.
Minnesota Duluth would jump in front again in the third set, building a 12-7 lead and hitting .308 to that point. The Dragons also had four attack errors in that same stretch. MSUM would cut that lead to 13-8, but the Bulldogs responded with a 4-1 run to bring the score to 17-9. The Bulldogs would close the match down with an 8-6 stretch.
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MSUM (4-8, 1-3 NSIC) is back at home next weekend with the Dragon schedule not getting any easier with nationally-ranked Concordia, St. Paul coming through Nemzek Fieldhouse on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
