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Morris, Minn. – The Minnesota Morris Volleyball team won for the fifth time in the last seven matches tonight (Oct. 7), taking a 3-0 sweep over visiting Bethany Lutheran in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action.

The Cougars continued their streak of hot-hitting matches, posting a .291 mark tonight with just 10 total attack errors while winning by set scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-15.

Morris (12-5, 4-2 UMAC) has now posted a sweep in each of their last five wins, while Bethany Lutheran (6-13, 2-3 UMAC) falls for the third time in their last four.

A balanced Cougar attack saw just Emily Auch (Benson) hit double-digits, with her game high 12 kills, but had five different players notch five or more. She also posted the second best dig night of her young career with 16, gaining her fourth double-double in the process. Auch was one of two players to hit over .350 on the night with her .360, along with Jennifer LaRoque's (Monticello) .357 on five kills without an error.

Stephanie Schmiesing (Melrose, Minn.) added eight kills on the night, ending a streak of back-to-back games in double figures, but hit eight or more for the eighth time.

Brita Humphrey (Minnetonka, Minn.)added 15 digs in the back row, her 11th game in double figures while closing in on the 800 mark for her career. And running the offense as usual was Natalie Thomas (Champlin, Minn.), who dished out 34 assists in leading the Cougars to their second best night attack percentage of the season.

The Cougars made quick work of the Vikings in the first set, hitting .222 in the frame, with a match high14 kills on 36 total attempts. Morris opened with a 1-0 lead and led the whole way.

The story of the set was the 13-to-2 run the Cougars went on midway through, to turn a 9-2 lead in to a 22-8 advantage as they cruised to the win.

The second set was a bit closer as the Cougars trailed at times, but were able to outscore the Vikings 18-10 down the stretch to finish with a .344 attack percentage with just two errors. The final set was more of the same as the Cougars hit .314 with 13 kills and only a pair of errors.

The Cougars will close out the weekend tomorrow afternoon hosting Martin Luther at 1:00 p.m. in their annual Dig Pink match. Morris will don special pink jerseys as the join with the Side-Out Foundation to raise Breast Cancer awareness. One -of-a-kind items will be available for sale and auction with all the proceeds going to the Side-Out Foundation to help fund breast cancer research. More information can be found here.