MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team clinched a berth to the UMAC Tournament on Saturday with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) win at Bethany Lutheran College. The win – the 400th of Head Coach Joe Sussenguth's career – improves the Cougars to 11-12 and 8-4 in the UMAC.

The first set featured some big momentum swings as a 5-3 lead for Bethany Lutheran turned into a 12-6 advantage for Minnesota Morris. The Vikings would eventually come back to catch the Cougars at 14-14 before UMN Morris reeled off four straight. Still up by four, 20-16, Minnesota Morris gave up five straight points composed entirely of Cougar errors to give BLC a late lead. However, in the closing stages the Cougars righted the ship and won five of the final six points, finished off with an ace from Alyssa Ukestad.

Bethany Lutheran nabbed an 8-3 lead in the early going of the second set before Minnesota Morris came back to tie it at 8-8 with three Viking errors and two kills from Maggie Jones. Two Brooke Christensen kills then helped the Cougars take an 11-9 lead, an edge they held onto until Bethany Lutheran came back to knot the score at 21-21. Once again, the final points of the set belonged to Minnesota Morris. Laura Wellbrock gave UMN Morris the lead at 22-21 and that was followed by a Viking error and a kill from Lydia Nash to earn set point. Two points later a kill from Anna Molstad ended things to give the Cougars a 2-0 advantage.

The third set was fairly comfortable, though a late Bethany Lutheran rally made for some interesting moments. Minnesota Morris led by as many as seven points, 19-12, before a four-point run and later a three-point run from the Vikings brought them to within two, 23-21. With the Vikings on serve, the Cougars got to the brink of the victory with a Molstad kill and Jones followed on the next point with another one to close it out.

Wellbrock finished with a match-high 10 kills. Jones and Molstad each chipped in with nine apiece. McKenzie Newton was credited with 31 assists, eight digs, and six block assists in the match. Ukestad – closing in on the school record for career digs – finished with 18.

Minnesota Morris closes out the regular season with two home matches next week. First up is a 6 p.m. tilt against the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Oct. 28.