By: Tom Berg, MSUM Media Relations
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - - The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team won for the sixth straight time on Saturday, sweeping Newberry, 25-19, 30-28, 25-21 to wrap up play at the Eckerd College Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla. MSUM improved to 8-1 on the year with the win, while Newberry fell to 5-3.
Freshman Abby Wolpern had 11 kills and hit .400 to lead the Dragons’ hitting attack. Senior Meredith Egeland and sophomore Annie Palmquist had eight kills each, while senior Heidi Lensing and freshman Kaitlin VanWinkle had six each. Freshman setter Cassie Baer had 20 set assists, while senior setter Anna Olson had 19. Senior Katy Ness had 19 digs, while Egeland had two solo blocks and seven block assists.
"It was a successful trip to Florida," MSUM head coach Tammy Blake said. "We played a lot of matches in a short period of time. I have an extremely tired team but we perservered and won."
MSUM hit .223 for the match while holding Newberry to .096.
The Dragons held a 10-9 lead in the first set before a 5-1 run – sparked by kills from sophomore Sam Sullivan, VanWinkle and Lensing – to build a 15-10 lead. Newberry battled back, however, and took an 18-17 lead. The Dragons then seized the momentum with seven straight points – with a kill and a block from Egeland sparking the run – to take a 24-18 lead, on their way to a 25-19 win.
The second set was a marathon with eight ties and three lead changes. MSUM led much of the way but Newberry came back to tie the set at 23-23. The Dragons faced a 28-27 deficit in the set but a Newberry hitting error, followed by back-to-back kills from VanWinkle off of sets from Olson, helped MSUM rally for a 30-28 win.
The final set was tied at 9-9 before the Dragons were able to gain separation with a 6-2 run, which included a kill from sophomore Maggie Gruber and a kill from Egeland, to take a 15-11 lead.
Newberry cut the gap to 15-13, but the Dragons responded with a decisive 6-1 spurt to extend the advantage to 21-14. Egeland had three block assists and a kill during that run, while Wolpern had two block assists and Palmquist had a kill. From there the Dragons cruised to a 25-21 win to complete the sweep.
Wolpern had five block assists, while Lensing had 11 digs.
MSUM opens NSIC play on Friday, Sept. 14 at St. Cloud State.