ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern volleyball team swept visiting Minnesota Morris in a battle of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) unbeatens Wednesday night to claim at least a share of its fifth consecutive UMAC regular season title and eighth in the last nine years. With the win, the Eagles secure the No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament next week. Northwestern won by set scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-19 en route to moving its conference winning streak to 28 games.

It was a monumental night for outside hitter Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork), who joined the 1,000 career dig club in the victory, as the sophomore surpassed the milestone in the first set Wednesday night and now has 1,016 career digs. Peterson posted match-highs in kills (11) and digs (21) while also having three service aces. Faith Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) was strong in the middle, slamming eight kills and recording five blocks. Vander Galien's .444 hitting percentage led all competitors. Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) floored eight kills and Lydia Palkert (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) added seven. 

UNW will wrap up regular season play Friday when they travel to Martin Luther for a 7:30 p.m. contest with the Knights.