UMD Volleyball Set to Open Conference Play with Bouts Against Winona & Concordia-St. Paul

UMD has won their last two against Winona but have lost their last eight to Concordia-St. Paul.

DULUTH, Minn.- Thursday marks the start of conference play for the 11th ranked UMD volleyball team as they’ll put their undefeated record to the test against the 6-3 Winona State Warriors.

It also is the beginning of quite the weekend schedule as UMD also has a matchup with the 10th ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears on Saturday.

Head Coach Jim Boos has been impressed with his offense so far this season. He added that they’ll need another solid showing from that unit in tonight’s matchup and on Saturday in their home opener.

“Right now the fact that we’re hitting for the high percentage that we are, our kills per set number has gone up a bunch. That’s really going to dictate how you’re going to win a ton of matches. Really that’s what we need to be able to do. So it’s about keep ourselves in system, controlling the ball from a passing standpoint, defensive standpoint to make sure we’re getting a ton of swings and we can spread the ball around and be you know distributed,” said Boos.

Aware of the tall test ahead, the team is still excited for the challenge of battling the Golden Bears on their home floor.

“I think we’re super pumped up for it. Obviously, Concordia has always been a rival of ours. So, eight seniors entering our last first home game. I think we’re all really riled up and ready to bring it all to them. So I think it will be a really good game on Saturday,” said senior Samantha Paulsen.

UMD has won their last two against Winona but have lost their last eight to Concordia-St. Paul.

The Bulldogs and Warriors get things going at 6 PM on Thursday evening.