NDSU volleyball team suffers a sweep at Minnesota

A crowd of 1,958 at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis watched the 10th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team defeat NDSU in three matches on Monday.

Minnesota’s Tori Dixon hit .609 with 15 kills to lead Gophers to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 win over the Bison.

Katherine Harms added 12 kills and a match-high 15 digs for the Gophers, who improved to 7-1 on the season.

Megan Lambertson hit .462 with six kills and no errors in 13 attacks and Brynn Joki had a team-high seven kills for North Dakota State.

Neither teams led more than three points in the first set until Minnesota broke a 16-16 tie with four straight points. NDSU got back within 22-19 but made three straight errors to end it.

The second set was just as close until Minnesota’s Daly Santana’s back-to-back kills gave the Gophers a 20-16 lead.

NDSU scored on a block after a timeout, but Minnesota closed on a 5-0 run including a pair of Santana service aces to end the second match.

Minnesota broke open the third set with a 10-2 run. The Gophers followed the run with a pair of kills from Dixon that extended the lead to 21-12.

NDSU finished the set with 83 errors while their opponent had 61. The Bison did have a higher attack percentage, but the Gophers held a higher kill percentage.

The Bison ended the set with a serving percentage of .899 behind the Gophers average of .928.

NDSU now sits 3-7 for the season.

The Bison open Summit League play at Omaha at 5 p.m. Saturday and South Dakota State at 5 p.m. Sunday.