MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team outlasted Bethany Lutheran College on Friday night, sweeping the Vikings, 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-21). The victory improves UMN Morris to 9-8 (5-1 UMAC) on the year.

The first set didn't start well for the Cougars, who trailed by a score of 11-2 in the early going. The score was still 13-4 when Minnesota Morris put six straight on the board, helped along by four attack errors from Bethany Lutheran. With the score 16-13, the Cougars had a pair of kills from both Lydia Nash and Jenna Howden to establish an 18-16 lead, though the Vikings came back with four straight to regain the advantage at 20-18. Down the stretch, the score was tied five times, the last at 24-24. Minnesota Morris eked out the first set with kills from Laura Wellbrock and McKenzie Newton to take the 1-0 lead.

Despite starting out the second set with a 6-0 lead sparked by two aces from Alyssa Ukestad, Minnesota Morris soon lost the lead as Bethany Lutheran stormed back for an 8-7 edge. The Vikings would lead in the set as late as 19-18 and they came back to tie the score at 20-20 before the Cougars closed it out with Howden supplying a pair of kills and a block, along with an ace from Kennedy Geller.

The third set featured multiple runs from each team throughout, the last of which came after Bethany Lutheran had taken a 16-15 lead. On the next point, Newton and Brooke Christensen combined for a block to tie the score and start a flurry of seven straight points for Minnesota Morris to make it 22-16. The Vikings had one last rally in them, scoring three straight to cut it to 22-19 and forcing the Cougars into a timeout. From there, the teams traded sideouts the rest of the way, with two kills from Nash down the stretch closing it out for UMN Morris.

Howden had a match-high 10 kills on the night. Nash came up one kill short of a double-double, but ended with a productive night of nine kills and 10 digs. Wellbrock had seven kills and 13 digs, while Geller added six. Newton ended with 30 assists and eight digs. Ukestad led all players in the match with 16 digs and Sydney Eckhoff added 10 more.

Minnesota Morris wraps up its weekend road trip with a 1 p.m. match in New Ulm against Martin Luther College tomorrow.