WOLVES BLANKED BY DULUTH

Oct. 27, 2001

Northern State's hopes for a regional berth took a downturn Saturday night with a 3-0 home loss to Minnesota-Duluth (30-28, 30-26, 33-31).

Lucas attacks vs. UMD

The teams came into the match tied for ninth in the North Central Region rankings and in a must-win situation to stay in contention for post-season play. Six teams from each region move on to post-season play.

Northern (15-10, 9-5 NSIC) played the Bulldogs (13-6, 11-3 NSIC) tough in every game but also had costly lapses in each. Case in point: game two, where Duluth rushed out to a 10-1 lead before Northern regrouped. The Wolves came back, but it proved to be too big a hole to dig against a quality team.

Three NSU juniors registered 10 kills on the night. Middle blocker Christi Lucas (White) was one of them, and also added seven kills to lead the team. Outside hitters Kim Heny (Powell, Wyo.) and Stephanie Tschetter (Huron) were the other two. Heny ended with 13 digs, while Tschetter finished with 11. Sophomore setter Tara Sauter (Belle Plaine, Minn.) ended with 39 set assists to go with 11 digs.

Minnesota-Duluth (13-6, 11-3 NSIC) was led by Becky Hoffmann's 22 kills and four blocks.

Northern still has a chance to make some noise in the region this week when the team travels to Wayne State (Neb.). The Wildcats are ranked sixth in the region and are tied for first in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.