BISMARCK, ND – The University of Mary capped off a perfect homestand with a rout of instate rival Minot State University. A highly-efficient offensive outburst by UMary led the Marauders to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-16) sweep of the Beavers and capped a flawless three-game home stand. The three-game win streak is a season-best for the Marauders.
UMary crushed the ball at will, posting a season-high attack percentage of .429 while limiting Minot State to a mark of .167. The Marauders (8-17 overall, 4-12 Northern Sun) posted 47 kills and just eight attack errors. The Beavers (5-20, 1-15) were limited to 28 kills and forced to make 14 attack errors.
One of the top offensive players in the Northern Sun, Lauren Randall again led the Marauders in kills with 13. She misfired on just on ball and hit .444 on the evening. She also had two aces and five digs. Second in the league in kills/set, Randall hit another career milestone, reaching 1,301 kills. The Marauders all-time kills leader during the school's NCAA era that began in 2006, the senior outside hitter has nearly 250 more kills than any other UMary player during that time period.
Freshman Natalia Cruz added eight kills and nine digs. Senior Katelyn Olson contributed seven kills, five assists and two block assists. Geovana Almeida had 12 digs, four assists and two aces.
Senior Freddie Campbell and freshman Madeleine Burch controlled the middle of the net for UMary. Both posted identical lines of six kills in nine swings with just one hitting error each. Campbell also added six aces and three assisted blocks.
Emily Falldorf paced the Beavers with eight kills.
The Marauders set an early tone. Down 6-3 in the first set, UMary and Minot State soon were knotted 10-10. Running off the next five points, the Marauders would score 15 of the final 18 points to claim the opening set 25-13.
Staying hot, UMary raced to a 9-2 advantage in the second set. The Beavers pulled within 19-15 before consecutive kills by Campbell and Morgan Schnabel and a Minot State hitting mistake closed out a 25-17 second set win and pushed UMary up 2-0 at intermission.
Once again in the third set, UMary pulled away in the middle. Up 12-11, the Marauders outscored the Beavers 13-5 to finish the sweep.
UMary returns to the road this weekend with matches against two ranked teams, #25 Upper Iowa and #15 Winona State on Nov. 3-4.
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