MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team never trailed at any point in the match during a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-14, 25-15) of North Central University. The Cougars improve to 5-9 (2-1 UMAC) with the victory while the Rams fall to 7-3 (1-2 UMAC).

The first set had Minnesota Morris comfortably in the lead most of the way, but it was blown wide open with a six-point run by the Cougars to take a 22-11 advantage. Kennedy Geller had a pair of kills in the middle of that swing and Maggie Jones added an ace. At the end of the set, Lydia Nash made it 24-13 and then teamed with Geller for a block to close things out.

North Central rallied in the second set to tie the score at 6-6 before an attack error from the Rams, a Geller kill, and a Sydney Eckhoff ace made it 9-6 for Minnesota Morris. At 21-14, the Cougars scored the final four points on a kill from Mary Cate Ziembiec, a pair of kills from Jones, and an ace from Alyssa Ukestad.

The final set was close at 9-8 with Minnesota Morris in the lead until four points in a row that included kills from Ziembiec, McKenzie Newton, and Macey Bosard made it 13-8. Another four-point swing later in the set included two aces from Sydney Petersen as the Cougars pulled away for the 25-15 victory.

The Cougars hits .356 as a team in the match while holding North Central to a .060 hitting percentage. Jones had a match-high 11 kills while hitting .579. Ziembiec and Anna Molstad each added six kills each. Newton finished with 32 assists on the day. Ukestad finished with three aces and 15 digs.

Minnesota Morris heads to Wisconsin next weekend for a pair of matches. First up is a Friday night clash at the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Sept. 30 starting at 7 p.m.