MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris volleyball team swept Martin Luther College, 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-14), on Senior Day in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play Friday night in Morris, Minn. The win secured a spot in the UMAC Tournament for the Cougars.
 
Minnesota Morris improved to 12-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while the Knights dropped to 3-19 and 2-7 in the UMAC.
 


Before the match, the four seniors — Allison Dornseif, Mary Cate Ziembiec, Anna Molstad, and Rocky Menesini-Baden — were honored for all they have contributed to the volleyball program.
 
The Knights took the first point of the match, but the Cougars answered with the next seven, highlighted by kills from Bella Nelson and Ziembiec, two aces from Ella Johnson, and a block from Ziembiec and Tori Scheler. After a few short runs, Braxtyn Meyer extended the lead to eight with a kill. Kills from Ziembiec, Johnson, and Scheler helped maintain the UMM lead down the stretch. The Cougars closed out the set on a five-point run, ending with a block by Ziembiec and Meyer to take the set, 25-13.
 
Johnson started set two with a kill set up by Clara Holden. After a few traded points, UMM scored three straight on successful attacks by Ziembiec and Molstad and an ace by Dornseif. The Knights cut the lead to one, but Molstad ignited a four-point run capped by a Johnson kill to push the lead to five. MLC began to creep back in, scoring five of six midway through the set. Johnson then recorded the next three UMM points to keep the Cougars in front. Martin Luther tied the set at 22-22 and later took its first lead at 25-24. The Cougars, however, closed the set by scoring the final three points — kills from Ziembiec and Scheler and an ace by Holden — to win, 28-26.
 
The Cougars opened the third set with an early four-point run, featuring a kill and ace from Johnson and kills by Ziembiec and Nelson. Molstad helped spark a five-point rally with two kills and a block with Scheler to extend the lead to 14-6. The teams traded points with UMM maintaining a sizeable advantage. Ziembiec recorded another kill to start a Cougar rally, and a block by Meyer and Molstad brought UMM to match point. Molstad closed out Senior Day with one final kill.
 
Ziembiec led the attack with 16 kills while hitting .406. Molstad tallied 10 kills and hit .375, and Johnson rounded out the top three with eight kills while hitting a team-high .500. Holden recorded 20 assists, with Dornseif adding 16. The Cougars totaled six aces, led by Johnson with three.
 
Defensively, Lexi Coon totaled 18 digs, followed by Dornseif with 11. UMM finished with six blocks in the three-set victory. Meyer, Molstad, and Scheler each recorded three assisted blocks.
 
The Cougars close out their home schedule tomorrow (Saturday) at noon against Bethany Lutheran College.