GRAND FORKS, N.D. – After surviving seven set points in the match, North Dakota (1-28, 0-17 Summit League) fell in a 3-0 decision (25-16, 25-19, 25-18) to South Dakota (17-9, 14-3 Summit) inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Thursday night.
Lexi Ahrens was the top attacker for UND, racking up eight kills, while also leading the team in blocks with three (one solo, two assisted).
Maddy Hornyak and Kelly Wahl were next in K’s with four each. Ashlyn Olson, Abi McGlynn, and Taylor Pribyl also all accounted for three kills apiece.
Peyton Sewell had her fifth double-double of the season and her second consecutive double-double with 10 assists to go with 10 digs.
Madi Hart was the top defender with 21 digs, while Kortney Carney paced the offense with 11 assists.
Hornyak, Hart and Pribyl each accounted for one service ace on the night.
South Dakota controlled the match, winning the statistical categories of kills (44-28), blocks (9-4), assists (41-26), digs (76-63) and service aces (7-3).
In the opening set, USD went up 18-7 early before UND took a timeout and strung together three positive points with kills from Olson, McGlynn and a service ace from Hornyak to trim the lead to 18-10. The Hawks tried climbing back into the set after a kill from Olson and a South Dakota error brought the tally to 20-12. Following that point, the Coyotes went on a 3-0 run before a kill from Ahrens ended the run at 23-13. USD earned another point to go up 24-13, but UND showed resolve and survived three set points before giving up the final point of the match at 25-16. McGlynn and Ahrens shared the team-lead for kills in the opening stanza with three each.
After consecutive attack errors from South Dakota, North Dakota led 2-0 early in set two. The Coyotes claimed the lead at 6-2 after six straight points. A Julz Carlat terminating attack, followed by a USD attack error shortly after brought the score to 8-5. UND’s next consecutive points came 11-7 to bring the tally to 11-9 after kills from Ahrens and Hornyak. A 4-0 run for South Dakota increased its lead to 15-9, before another kill from Hornyak ended the run at 15-10. A kill from Wahl brought the score to 16-11, and then the Coyote lead ballooned to 18-11. The next consecutive points for UND came at 21-14 with a bad set and attack error from USD, and then a kill and service ace from Pribyl later in the set cut the deficit to 23-17. North Dakota survived two set points at 24-17 and got the score within five at 24-19 before a final Coyote kill ended the set.
In the third stanza, South Dakota went up 7-4 early before back-to-back kills from Wahl brought North Dakota within one at 7-6. The Coyotes went up 8-6 with another kill, but a thundering kill form Wahl on a free ball cut the tally to 8-7. Next, USD fired off five straight points to go up 13-7. UND quickly responded with four points of its own, highlighted by a kill from Ahrens and a pair of K’s from the arm of Pribyl at 13-11. The teams then traded points until 15-13 when South Dakota mounted a 3-0 run to go up 18-13. A terminating attack from Gayle and a USD error brought the Hawks within three at 18-15, but the Coyotes used another 3-0 run to go up 21-15 late. A 3-1 USD run increased its lead to 24-16 before a Coyote error and a Hart service ace cut the lead to 24-18, allowing UND to survive two more set points. A kill from the Coyotes on the next play ended it at 25-18. Wahl recorded three of her four kills over a four-point rally in set three.
North Dakota will conclude its season on Saturday, hosting South Dakota State at 11 a.m. Before the match, McGlynn, Ahrens, Wahl, Hart and Sierra Ellett will all be honored as a part of Senior Day.
*Tyler Wells, UND Athletics
Comments