ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team dominated every phase of the match on Tuesday night, claiming a quick 3-0 (25-7, 25-16, 25-11) victory over Crown College in the UMAC opener for the Cougars. 

Minnesota Morris had 24 kills and only four attacking errors in the match, ending with a .286 hitting percentage as a team on the night. Comparatively, Crown had more errors (15) than kills (14) and ended with a -.012 hitting percentage. The Cougars compounded those problems for the Storm by serving 12 aces in the match.

The first set was over in a flash. After splitting the first two points, Maggie Jones had a kill and two errors from Crown gave the Cougars a 4-1 lead that they wouldn't lose. From 5-3, Minnesota Morris rattled off 10 points in a row, including three aces from Jenna Howden. At 15-5, the Cougars put nine more in a row on the board, including three kills from Laura Wellbrock and a pair from Kennedy Geller. Geller then closed the set out with another kill to end it at 25-7.

The second set was the closest of the night, but even with that the Cougars started out with a 6-0 lead and took 10 of the first 12 points of the set. To their credit, the Storm did rally back within two, 13-11, but Minnesota Morris took over from there and pulled away to take a 2-0 lead.

Crown took its only lead of the night early in the third set and actually went up, 6-2, before UMN Morris took over with nine straight points to take an 11-6 edge. The Cougars ended up multiple runs of four or more points in a row in the final set and eased to the 25-11 victory to close it out.

Geller ended with a match-high seven kills, hitting .700 on the night. McKenzie Newton had 17 assists. Maggie Jones notched a pair of solo blocks. Alyssa Ukestad led both teams with 11 digs from the back row.

Minnesota Morris stays on the road this weekend, heading to the Twin Cities for a pair of matches. First up is a 7 p.m. clash on Friday night at North Central University.