Box Score MORRIS, Minn. – Thanks to 18 kills from Abby Tietz, the Cougars are headed to the 2013 UMAC Championship match on Saturday. Minnesota Morris swept the Knights 25-21, 25-22, 25-21. The Cougars will face Northwestern in the final at 7 p.m. It marks the first time the Cougars have advanced to the UMAC Tournament Championship in school history.

Kaylie Clark had 25 digs in the match to lead the team defensively. Cori Becker had a solo block and four block assists along with five kills. Emily Auch had 13 kills and seven digs. Alyssa Haugen had eight kills and hit .294 in the match.

Morris out hit the Knights .273 to .140 in the match. They had 15 more kills than Martin Luther on the evening. Mandy Allman had 22 assists and Kayley Siekmann added 18.

The Cougars jumped out an early 7-3 lead in the first set but the Knights stayed within striking distance. A solo block pulled Martin Luther back in the set at 11-10. Martin Luther took their first lead of the set at 13-12 before the Cougars tied it right back up. With the set tied at 16, Cori Becker had a solo block to give Morris the one point lead; another point followed and the lead grew to two. A Knight block would tie the set back up at 19 as the two teams battled toward the deciding set point. Minnesota Morris forced a MLC timeout with a 21-19 lead and then another timeout after taking a 23-20 lead late in the set. Tietz gave the Cougars the set one win with a kill at 25-21, she finished the set with six kills on 13 swings.

Kaylie Clark had ten digs in the set as she continues her stellar defensive season, she is now second all-time for most digs in a season with 632. The school record is 733, set by Ann Mielke in 2004. Morris out hit the Knights .239 to .065 in the first set.

Martin Luther took an 8-5 lead in the second set and kept UMM at bay for the first half of the set, leading 12-9. Tietz had back to back kills to tie the set at 12 and then was able to roll a ball over the net for their third straight kill giving UMM their first lead of the set. Clark had an ace out of a MLC timeout pushing the lead to 14-12. Addie Vancura and Becker combined for a block, giving UMM their largest lead of the set at 19-15 but Martin Luther rattled off three straight pulling within one. Martin Luther forced another Cougar timeout after a pair of ball handling errors gave the Knights a 20-19 lead. Morris responded out of the timeout and took a 23-21 lead forcing a MLC timeout. Minnesota Morris took the set 25-22, taking a two set to none lead.

Tietz again had six kills in the set but it was Emily Auch with her seven kills in the set to pacing the Cougars offensively. Again Clark had ten digs defensively in the set. There were nine ties and four lead changes in the second set.

Morris tried to feed off the momentum of the second set, taking a 6-3 lead early in the third set. The Knights would tie the set back up at seven, not going away quietly. Martin Luther held a 12-10 lead midway through the set but UMM tied it back up at 13. Auch gave the Cougars a 16-15 lead but MLC quickly tied it back up. Holding a 19-18 lead, the Knights were called for a ball handling error giving the Cougars the 20-18 lead. The Cougars had set point at 24-21 with Tietz serving and she did her job, producing an ace putting the Cougars in the UMAC Championship match.