MORRIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris Cougars took on the Martin Luther College Knights in their second home UMAC match up of the season. The Cougars advance to 8-8 (4-1 UMAC) at the conclusion of the match. 

Minnesota Morris jumped out to an early lead in the first set, getting up 11-2 on the Knights in an impressive offensive display. Mary Cate Ziembiec scored five of the first eleven points for the Cougars, going on a serving run that resulted in three aces and throwing down two kills. The rest of the set went quickly in favor of Minnesota Morris with Laura Wellbrock and Lacie O'Leary leading the charge, assisted by Sydney Petersen, Allison Dornseif, and Ziembiec. The first set retired with the Cougars up 25-13 over the Knights. 

Martin Luther kept the second set close to begin with, challenging Minnesota Morris on both the offensive and defensive. The set tied up 11-11 before Alison Dornseif kicked off a scoring run to put the Cougars up 14-11. A second four-point scoring run, which ended with a kill from Madeline Monaco, continued to expand the Cougar lead to 18-12. The Knights responded with a scoring run of their own to close the gap to 15-18. After going back and forth, Minnesota Morris put together a three-point scoring run with a kill from Ziembiec, an error from Martin Luther, and a clutch from Madeline Monaco and Anna Molstad put set two away at 25-18.

The Knights found the lead early in set three, getting up 6-2 on the Cougars. The Cougars quickly tied up the score, but did not find a solid lead until later in the set. Kills from Scheler and Wellbrock gave Minnesota Morris a 17-14 lead, which was maintained by Molstad and Ziembiec to give the Cougars a 22-18 lead. Martin Luther battled to stay in the set, but Ziembiec and O'Leary, assisted by Petersen, continued to put points on the board for the Cougars. A service error by the Knights gave Minnesota Morris their final point of the set, ending with a 25-22 lead for the Cougars. 

Ziembiec was critical in the Cougar's win, leading in kills (10), aces (4), and digs (9). Molstad and Scheler's defensive effort resulted in three blocks for each of them. Petersen totaled up fourteen set assists on the day.

The Cougars will take the court again at home on Oct. 11 at 7 pm against North Central University.