MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team closed out the regular season on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-13, 25-14) of North Central University on Senior Day. The Cougars up their record to 20-7 (12-2 UMAC), reaching the 20-win threshold for the first time since the 2018 season.

Four key seniors – Lydia Nash, Sydney Eckhoff, McKenzie Newton, and Maggie Jones – were all celebrated in a pre-match ceremony. Often that can lead to some early hiccups when the match begins and the first set followed that script. North Central came out looking to spoil the party and led by as many as five, 13-8, midway through the set. Eventually, the Cougars began to pull closer and tied things up at 15-15 on an ace by Jones. Even then, the Rams continued to battle, keeping things tied up all the way to 21-21. Off the bench, Lacie O'Leary gave Minnesota Morris a 22-21 edge and a NCU error followed to give the Cougars a two-point cushion. At 23-22, North Central committed a service error and Jones finished it with a kill to put UMN Morris in the driver's seat.

The second set was tied seven times in the early going before North Central began to run out of gas. Kills from O'Leary and Nash broke an 8-8 deadlock and Minnesota Morris later scored seven in a row to turn a 13-10 lead into a 20-10 blowout. Laura Wellbrock had two kills in that stretch, but the damage was largely self-inflicted, with the Rams committing five errors in a row. Down the stretch, three points in a row finished it off with a kill from Tori Scheler, an ace from Wellbrock, and a kill from O'Leary to make it 25-13.

In the third set, a 4-4 tie quickly turned into a 14-5 edge for Minnesota Morris. North Central once again committed five errors in a row during that span, with Scheler leading off with a kill and later adding a solo block. Wellbrock had a pair of aces in that run as well. The Rams fought back midway through the set, pulling within five points on a number of occasions, but the Cougars notched the final six points of the day to wrap it up. Wellbrock had three kills in the late stages and Scheler and Sydney Eckhoff combined for a block.

Wellbrock led the way offensively with 12 kills and three aces, while Nash added eight kills. Newton had a double-double of 26 assists and 13 digs. Brunn matched her defensively with 13 digs, with Eckhoff adding another 10.

Minnesota Morris holds the No. 2 seed in the upcoming UMAC Tournament and will host No. 3 seed University of Wisconsin-Superior at James Gremmels Court on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. No. 1 seed University of Northwestern will host No. 4 seed Martin Luther College in the other semifinal that night in St. Paul.