Match Results
- North Dakota def. Idaho State 3-0, (25-22, 27-25, 25-16)
- North Dakota improves to 22-4, 6-2 Big Sky, Idaho State falls to 8-14, 5-4 Big Sky
- Grand Forks, North Dakota
- Attendance: 1,937
- Match Stats
North Dakota rolled to a three-set sweep over Idaho State to record their 18th consecutive home match. Additionally, the Fighting Hawks have not lost a set at home this season.
North Dakota jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the first, continuing to hold onto this lead throughout the set. Idaho State fought to get back within two points on mini-runs at 22-20. The Fighting Hawks held a 24-20 lead over Idaho State but the Bengals held off two set points before a Faith Dooley kills ended the set 25-22.
The second set saw Idaho State take the early 7-3 lead over North Dakota. The Bengals kept a small lead over the Fighting Hawks until they finally caught back up at 20-20. Chloe Hirst slammed down a kill for the Bengals before Jordan Vail stepped in for North Dakota to tie it back up at 21-21. The Fighting Hawks took a 24-22 lead on a kill from Vail and Dooley along with a Bengal hitting error. A block from Brooke Pehrson and kills from Abby Garrity and Marissa Dance brought Idaho State into the lead at 25-24. North Dakota then knocked off three straight points to take the 27-25 win.
The start of the third set was a tight battle with the score tied up at 7-7. North Dakota then went on a 4-0 run with kills from Sydney Griffin, Vail and Julia Kaczorowska to take the 11-7 lead. Throughout the remainder of the set, the Fighting Hawks continued to chip away at points through runs to take the third set and match 25-16.
In the match, Chloe Hirst recorded her 1,000th career kill after putting down eight in the loss along with 17 digs.
Three Fighting Hawks recorded double-doubles in the three-set sweep – Dooley with 10 kills and 10 blocks, Tamara Merseli with 10 kills and 14 digs and setter Griffin with 40 assists and 10 digs. Alivia Fraase picked up 21 digs along with Teodora Tepavac‘s 16.
Dance was the leader for the Bengals with nine kills and six digs. Setter Makayla Lundin dished out 20 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. In the backcourt, Haylie Keck picked up a match-best 33 digs while Hirst added another 17.
Press Release
Courtesy of North Dakota Athletics
Three different North Dakota players recorded double-doubles, powering the home team to its 18th straight home win with a 3-0 win over Idaho State Thursday in Big Sky Conference play. North Dakota has now won 35 consecutive sets at home as well, dating back to last season.
Faith Dooley (10 kills, 10 total blocks), Tamara Merseli (10 kills, 14 digs) and Sydney Griffin (40 assists, 10 digs) all charted double-doubles while Jordan Vail paced the offense with 13 kills in the sweep. Alivia Fraase had 21 digs while Teodora Tepavac chipped-in 16.
“This was not a pretty offensive performance for us, but our defensive mindset was great,” UND head coach Mark Pryor said. “We got back to playing UND volleyball–grind it out, work the point, pick your shot, then score.
“Alivia Fraase and Teodora Tepavac played great on the defensive side, and our block made really good adjustments during the play to slow down their offense.”
All three players (Dooley, Griffin, Merseli) have tallied double-doubles already this season with Griffin and Merseli doing so 10 times now on the year, but never have all three done it in the same match. Dooley’s 10-kill, 10-block effort was her second double-double of the season as North Dakota used a solid defensive performance to garner the win Thursday.
UND charted 14 blocks as a team in Thursday’s win and the Fighting Hawks’ back-row players shined in extending longer rallies, especially during a second-set comeback. After UND had taken set one, 25-22, Idaho State stormed to a 7-3 lead and stayed in front for nearly the entire middle frame.
It was not until the latter stages of the set that North Dakota was able to regain the lead. Jordan Vail killed a pair of balls to make it 22-22 then Dooley had a kill later and the home team had set point at 24-22. But, three straight Bengal points swung the advantage to ISU. Merseli tied the score then Dooley got a kill and one of her match-high ten blocks to save the set and notch it in the win column, 27-25, North Dakota.
In the third set, UND ran away from the Bengals in the middle portion of the stanza. North Dakota turned a 7-all score into a 14-8 lead and then later UND strung together another spurt with seven of nine points to eventually win the set, 25-16 and get to 7-2 in Big Sky Conference play, North Dakota’s exact conference record at this point last season, a year that saw the Hawks win the regular season, the league tournament and advance to the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.
“It’s a win, and we will take it. On to Weber State Saturday, who is another team with a lot of length up front. We have to make them play the whole court, and not just try to side out with them. It will be a tough one.”
North Dakota (22-4, 7-2 Big Sky) hosts Weber State Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Notes: North Dakota is 7-0 at home this season, all sweeps … UND has now won 18 straight home matches with its last loss coming Sep. 3, 2016 vs. Texas Tech … UND has won an incredible 35 straight sets at home … UND’s last set loss at the Betty was the second set of a 3-1 win over Idaho on Nov. 5, 2016 … Idaho State fell to 6-4 all-time against North Dakota … Merseli also had six blocks Thursday, a new career high … Dooley has reached double figures in blocks nine times, including four times this season … North Dakota is 42-7 at home under Pryor in his four seasons … Idaho’s loss Thursday put UND and the Vandals in a tie atop the Big Sky Conference North Division at 7-2.
Press Release
Courtesy of Idaho State Athletics
The Idaho State volleyball team fell in three sets at North Dakota Thursday evening at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D. The Bengals fell 25-22, 27-25 and 25-16, giving the Fighting Hawks the 3-0 sweep.
Idaho State (8-14, 5-4 BSC) was led by senior outside hitter Marissa Dance with nine kills and six digs while senior outside hitter Chloe Hirst added eight kills to reach 1,000 career kills to go along with 17 digs. Sophomore libero Haylie Keck finished with 33 digs to smash the previous three-set match digs record of 24, set by Kylee Sessions on Nov. 30, 2013 against Portland State.
“I thought we played really high-level volleyball, but UND played better longer,” Head Coach Rick Reynolds. “We made some adjustments and it changed the pace of the match and created some opportunities for us.”
After a slow start in the first set, ISU stormed back from a 17-10 deficit, outscoring North Dakota (22-4, 6-2 BSC) 10-5 to cut the Fighting Hawks’ lead to two, 22-20. UND responded with two straight kills to lead 24-20, but a UND attacking error coupled with a big kill from junior outside hitter Abby Garrity brought the Bengals within two once more, 24-22. North Dakota ended ISU’s first-set comeback with a kill from Faith Dooley for the 25-22 first set win.
The momentum shifted in favor of the Bengals in the second set, as ISU took an early 7-3 lead with four Bengal kills and an ace courtesy of Keck. Midway through the first set, the Bengals still held a solid five-point lead, 12-7, but a 3-0 run from UND cut ISU’s lead to two, 12-10. Idaho State responded and held a three-point lead late in the set, 20-17, but three-straight ISU errors tied the set 20-all. ISU and UND battled back and forth as there were four ties and three lead changes. With the set tied 25-all, UND recorded two straight points to earn the 27-25 second set win.
In the final set, the Bengals struggled to connect, hitting -.114 while UND recorded 7.0 total blocks in the set. Four-straight UND kills broke a 7-all tie and put ISU behind 11-7. Idaho State continued to attack and two straight kills from Dance brought the Bengals back within three, 14-11, yet that is the closest the Bengals would come. UND capitalized on 12 third-set ISU hitting errors to take the third set 25-16.
“We have shown we can play with anyone in our conference,” Reynolds said. “I look forward to seeing us continue to grow tomorrow as we prepare for UNC.”
Idaho State continues play on the road at Northern Colorado Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in Greeley, Colo.
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