The University of Sioux Falls volleyball team was eliminated from the postseason tonight, as the second-seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs defeated the seventh-seeded Cougars in straight sets (25-14, 25-10, 25-21) in an NSIC quarterfinal match played tonight in front of 552 fans at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn.

The Bulldogs are also the No. 2 ranked team in NCAA Division II.

The Cougars end the 2013 season with a record of 19-12 (10-10 NSIC), a five-match improvement on their 2012 efforts (14-16 overall, 5-15 NSIC). The Bulldogs improve to 29-2 and move onto the semifinals of the NSIC tournament.

Juniors Emily Johnson and Kate Hart each tallied seven kills to pace the Cougars offense. Johnson also led the team with seven digs. Samantha Lovell put up a team-best three blocks. Alexa Reed dished 23 assists in her final collegiate match, while Andrea Odbert chipped in four digs and two aces. Hart also served up a pair of aces. 

Bulldog senior outside hitter and and reigning AVCA national player of the week Kate Lange pounded 12 kills on 29 swings (.310) to lead a trio of UMD players with double-digit terminations. Monica Turner torched the Cougars with her .833 attack clip, flooring 10 kills on 12 attempts with no errors.

UMD jumped ahead 10-5 in game one and 13-5 in game two to go into intermission with a comfortable 2-0 advantage. The third set was a battle that saw the Cougars staked to a 18-16 lead after a Hart spike and Jordan Calef block, but UMD called timeout and responded with a 9-3 rally capped by a Maddy Siroin kill to take the set 25-21 and the match.  

The Bulldogs out-hit USF in the match .353-.040. USF owned a 4.0-3.0 blocking advantage and the squads were level in terms of service aces (5-5).

Playing in their final match were senior setter Alexa Reed and senior libero Andrea Odbert.