TERRE HAUTE, IND. - The University of North Dakota volleyball team reeled off its fourth-straight win to open its season en route to claiming the team title at the Best Western Sycamore Classic on Saturday. After sweeping SIU-Edwardsville, 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-19), in their morning match, the Fighting Sioux continued their undefeated run in the classic by taming Akron, 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-23).
"This was a great weekend for us to start off the season with four wins and a tournament title," first-year head coach Ashley Hardee said. "We will enjoy this for now, but this team knows the competition will get tougher and we still have a lot of work to do in the gym."
In Saturday's opening match, the Sioux fell behind early in the first set as the Cougars jumped out to a 10-5 lead. It was the largest deficit the Sioux had faced in the classic to that point, but the team promptly responded from its sluggish start to square the set at 15-15 on a service ace by Erin Joki (Grand Rapids, Minn.).
The teams went back-and-forth splitting the next 10 points before UND reeled off the final five to secure the first-set victory, 25-20. Senior Amanda Polzin (Hutchinson, Minn.) had two crucial kills during that stretch and sophomore Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) finished it off with her fourth kill of the opening set.
Trefz led the Sioux in kills for the third-straight match with 11 as UND routed the Cougars, 25-10 in the second set and completed the sweep with a 25-19 victory in the third set. Joki connected on eight of her 12 total attacks to post a career-high .667 hitting percentage.
Senior Lindsay Vortherms (Windom, Minn.) once again paced the Sioux defensive efforts with 15 digs. Trefz and sophomore Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) also added seven digs a piece as the Sioux held the Cougars to just a .033 hitting percentage.
In the championship-clinching match against Akron, the Zips took the opening set 25-20, but the Sioux responded once again to the temporary setback. Tied at 7-7 in the second set, UND went on a 8-2 run to break the set open. Smed had a team-high five kills in the set and also led the team with a .429 hitting percentage against the Zips. She finished with 14 kills against the Zips, which was one shy of her career high, and narrowly missed a double-double adding nine digs.
"Annika really carried us in the match against Akron," Hardee said. "She is a versatile player and does so many different things for us, but it was her offense that really sparked us in the last match."
UND rolled to a 25-14 victory in the third set and held off a pesky Akron club to take the fourth set 25-23 and clinch the team title. Joki had six kills in the final set and finished the tournament with 35 kills thanks to a team-high .342 attack percentage.
Senior setter Megan Langseth (Alexandria, Minn.) had 38 assists in the Akron match and finished the tournament with 141 helpers. She had at least 28 assists in each of the four matches. "Megan was another player who did a fantastic jog for us," Hardee added. "She did a great job of directing our offense and keeping us in the system."
Langseth added five kills and seven digs against the Zips. Vortherms led the Sioux in digs for the fourth-straight match with 19. She finished the weekend with 79 and moved into fourth place on the UND career charts in the category with 1,340.
With the 4-0 start, the 2009 Fighting Sioux squad is just third team in the 34-year history of the program to win their opening four matches of a season. The 2008 squad accomplished the same feat and went on to a 12-0 start, while the 2002 club won eight straight before dropping a match.
The Fighting Sioux will return to action on Friday at the Wyoming Tournament in Laramie. The Sioux will face Fresno State (1 p.m.) and Wyoming (8 p.m.) on Friday before wrapping up the two-day event with a match against Montana State (6 p.m.) on Saturday.
