SIOUX FALLS – In a battle of two high-powered offenses on Friday night, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball fell 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-22) to No. 6 Minnesota Duluth. The Cougars were saddled with their third loss of their season, dropping their overall record to 8-3 while evening their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference mark to 3-3. Minnesota Duluth remained unbeaten in NSIC play with a  6-0 record and they improved to 13-1 on the season.
 
Both teams hit well over .300 for the match, but it was UMD's kill output that separated them from the Cougars. Three Bulldog hitters connected on 10 or more kills while Makenna Rockeman's 10 terminations were a team-high for USF. Rockeman hit .320 for the night on 25 total attacks and the Cougars finished with a .329 hitting percentage to the Bulldogs' .330. USF's defense was led again by senior libero Janelle Lam, who picked up 11 digs.
 
Sioux Falls fell behind 6-0 in the first set and were unable to make up the difference as they fell 25-17. A string of errors by UMD helped the Cougars claw within three points at 11-14 and again at 17-14, but the Bulldogs closed on an 8-3 run.
 
The second set opened with a series of runs for each team and then featured both teams trading blows for the remainder of the set. After building an 11-7 advantage when Lexi Scott put down two kills to cap a four-point surge, USF was able to stave off any UMD charges to keep their lead heading into the home stretch. The Bulldogs fought back to take a 23-22 lead and earned a pair of set points the Cougars fended off.
 
The second set point USF shook off was followed by Scott's solo block to give them their first set-point opportunity against the sixth-ranked Bulldogs. However, USF's window closed with three straight points and Minnesota Duluth took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 28-26 victory.
 
After falling behind 14-8 in the third set, USF responded with a 6-2 run to pull themselves back in. The Cougars clawed back within one point before eventually tying the set at 21-21 when Rockeman connected her 10th kill. Bria Barfnecht responded with her eighth kill – she finished the night without committing an attack error for a .727 attack percentage – after Minnesota Duluth surged ahead with two points then closed with two more kills to finish the third set 25-22.
 
Sioux Falls concludes their weekend home stand with a 2 p.m. match against St. Cloud State on Saturday, Sept. 30.