Minnesota Duluth volleyball seniors Paige Decker and Madison Reed kept their Bulldogs careers going as UMD won 3-1 (29-31, 25-19, 26-24, 25-21) over Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament on Tuesday night in Marshall, Minnesota.
Decker, a middle blocker, had a 23-kill performance while libero Reed had 25 digs to lead all players.
ADVERTISEMENT
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs had big performances up and down the stat sheet. Madeline Guetzkow finished with a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs, while Kenzie Kiminski had 11 kills and 20 digs (a career high).
After coming out on the short end of a marathon first set despite piling up 20 kills, the Bulldogs weren't fazed, never trailing in the second set en route to evening up the match. The third was another close frame, but after the Mustangs staved off two set points to tie it at 24, UMD took the set right back on a Decker kill and a double block from Kendra Behrens and Xada Johnson.
UMD was down 21-20 in the fourth but closed SMSU out with five points in a row: a service error followed by four straight kills: two from Kiminski, one from Decker and the match-winner from Karsyn Winchell.
The Bulldogs won des...