Bison Women Sweep UND

The last time the UND volleyball team won in Fargo was 1976. They put an end to that streak in front of a season-high crowd of 1,413 at the Bison Bunker Fieldhouse on Tuesday, sweeping the Bison in convincing fashion by scores of 25-19, 25-21, and 25-22.

“It’s a big match for us… and I think we definitely should have played a lot better, especially at this point in the season,” NDSU head coach Kari Thompson said.

UND was the aggressor in the opening two sets and took the loud crowd out of the match. After Brynn Joki’s kill put the first score on the board for the Bison, UND rattled off seven straight points. NDSU battled back to 8-12 but the dangerous and talented frontline of UND pulled ahead, eventually winning the opening set 25-19.

UND continued their rally to open up the second set, scoring the first four points. The Bison again battled back and took a 13-11 lead after two Megan Lambertson kills and an ace by Lauren Cammack. NDSU maintained their lead and looked to be in control of the second set with a 21-19 edge. That was when the Bison squad collapsed. Three NDSU attacking errors and a blocking error contributed to six straight points for UND and the match win.

Down 2-0, the Bison started the third set strong in hopes of avoiding a sweep. Three Jenni Fassbender kills and a Cammack ace ignited NDSU to a quick 7-1 lead. UND quieted the home crowd again with their own 7-1 run, tying the game at 11. UND and NDSU then went kill for kill down the stretch, tying the game seven different times.

An ace and a block for UND finally put them up 20-18, a lead they held for good. UND scored the last two points of the set, winning 25-22 and getting the sweep on their in-state rival.

“We need to execute and stay engaged though long rallies and we’d actually make some good plays and then we wouldn’t get a good second contact on it,” Thompson said. “That’s something that we should be doing at this point.”

UND outhit NDSU .300 to .227 and had a 51-36 advantage in kills and a 57-44 edge in digs.

Joki and Lambertson led the Bison with 10 kills each and Andrea Henning has 14 digs for NDSU.

“We have to refocus now and we have to learn from this,” Thompson said.

NDSU (7-12) returns to Summit League play at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Omaha Mavericks (6-13).

Quotes courtesy of GoBison.com