DULUTH, Minn. - Taking on the top ranked team in the nation is no small feat, but the University of Mary Volleyball was ready, nonetheless, when they paid a visit to #1 University of Minnesota Duluth for the first match of a weekend road trip.
 
The Marauders (8-7, 3-3 NSIC) showed flashes of their potential during the nightcap, but it mattered little as the Bulldogs (12-2, 5-1 NSIC) swept the match in straight sets to snap U-Mary's three-game winning streak.
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the first set, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the match to take a stranglehold on the Marauders at 8-2. U-Mary started to close the gap after a kill from Lauren Randall and Alexis Jacobs to go with two Minnesota Duluth errors en route to an 11-6 deficit, but the Bulldogs would not slow as they extended the lead to 16-6 and never looked back throughout the set.
 
U-Mary had attacks from all over the court as Freddie Campbell and Elizabeth Garcia provided some of their own, but Minnesota Duluth proved too much and eventually closed the set on a 4-1 run to make the score 25-13 final.
 
The second set wasn't much different as the Bulldogs built up an early 10-2 advantage off five kills, three Marauder errors and two blocks, as U-Mary's offense struggled to find the right gear to get in motion. The Marauders' offense finally got in motion after the Bulldogs owned a 12-4 lead with U-Mary scoring eight of the next nine points off four kills, three from Randall and one from Garcia, team block from the same duo, a Janell Finkbeiner ace, an Alex Brown ace and a Bulldog error to cut Minnesota Duluth's lead down to 13-12.
 
Unfortunately the Bulldogs flexed their offensive muscle and rallied off a 12-1 run to put the Marauders on the brink of a sweep at 25-13 as U-Mary's offense stalled out.
 
The final set sung a different tune despite Minnesota Duluth owning a 12-4 lead early on, but the Marauders geared up for the long haul as they slowly chipped away at the Bulldog's lead after being down 16-8 midway through.
 
U-Mary fired off a 5-1 run from a Jacobs kill, a Paige Smith kill, a team block from Campbell and Rachel Astrup, another service ace from Brown and a Minnesota Duluth error to close in at 17-13.
 
After a Bulldog timeout in an attempt to slow the offense, the Marauders went on another 5-1 run off two Campbell kills, two Minnesota Duluth errors and a team block from Astrup and Finkbeiner to tie the set at 18-18 as U-Mary eyed a fourth set on the night.
 
Yet the Bulldogs eventually won out as their offense chugged away with four more kills to go with two Marauder errors and a team block to put a halt on U-Mary's win streak with a 25-20 loss.
 
Lauren Randall provided the offensive output as she did not register a single error on nine kills and 18 attacks for a hot-handed .500 hitting percentage; she also added one dig, one service ace and a block assist on the night.
 
Alexis Jacobs finished the match with five kills and six digs to go with a block assist to aid Randall on the offensive front.
 
Alex Brown continued to be a rock on the backline with 17 digs, two service aces and an assist in the match to prove her sure-handed status.
 
Janell Finkbeiner got the call to drive the offense as she ended with 14 assists along with one service ace, one block assist and two digs on the night.
 
The Marauders will pay a visit to St. Cloud tomorrow afternoon as they take on St. Cloud State University to round out the weekend matches.
 
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