MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team used its defense to pummel Martin Luther College on Thursday night, winning for the fourth straight match by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-17). The Cougars roll to 4-1 (4-1 UMAC) ahead of their first non-conference match of the season on Friday.

On Senior Night for Tori Everson, Mia Frick, Kylee Hansen, and Hailey Remme, it was a sophomore who made the biggest impact. Maggie Jones had a match-high nine kills with no errors on just 12 attack attempts for a .750 hitting percentage. She added onto that by dominating the net to the tune of a solo block and 10 block assists as part of a 14-block night from the Cougar defense. Repeatedly denied by UMN Morris, Martin Luther ended with more errors (26) than kills (21) and had a -.056 hitting percentage on the night.

Minnesota Morris had a bit of a slow start in the first set and used a timeout after going down, 11-7. Out of the break, the Cougars scored six straight with two kills from Jones and a pair of aces from Remme. In another six-point run later in the set, Jones had a kill and three block assists to increase the margin to 21-14. The Knights never got closer than five after that and the Cougars closed out the set with a kill from Everson, followed by an ace from the senior that clipped the net and rolled over to go up in the match, 1-0.

Other than a tie at 1-1, the second set was never in doubt. Minnesota Morris scored 10 of the first 12 points and eventually had a lead that reached 19-5 after Jones had a run of four straight points in which she either had a kill or contributed to a block. A kill from Brenna Tinjum finished it off to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead on the night.

The trend of the night was for the Cougars to swing the set in their favor with a six-point flurry. That continued in the third as six straight turned a 9-6 deficit into a 12-9 edge. Jones once again was at the center of it with three kills and two block assists. Later on, Everson smashed three straight kills to push the Cougars ahead, 17-11. With the score 21-17 in favor of UMN Morris, Martin Luther had a service error that gave the ball back to Minnesota Morris. The Cougars finished the match off with a kill from Lydia Nash and consecutive aces from Remme.

Besides Jones, Everson tallied eight kills, four aces, and four block assists. Remme added four kills, four aces, and three block assists. McKenzie Newton handed out 20 assists to go along with six digs and Alyssa Ukestad led the back line with eight digs on the night.

Minnesota Morris will trek to St. Joseph on Friday to take on the College of St. Benedict. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.