Women's Volleyball 9/23/2009 1:15:00 AM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sioux volleyball takes five-set thriller from SeattleU

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota volleyball team won a wild five-set thriller over SeattleU in a non-conference match on Tuesday night in the Pacific Northwest. The Sioux won the first two sets only to see the home team force a fifth and decisive set .

After falling behind 7-4 in that final set, the Sioux stormed back to score 11 of the next 15 points to extend their match-win streak to three (25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-27 and 15-11) and improve to 8-5 on the campaign. The Redhawks, who will travel to Grand Forks on Saturday for a match at UND, fell to 3-12.

“SeattleU is a really good team and we were fortunate to come out with a big victory on the road,” UND head coach Ashley Hardee said. “We got off to a good start and had our chances to end it in four sets, but we let them even things up and force a fifth set.

“We fell behind quick in that fifth set too, but we settled down after a time out and went on a giant run to close things out.”

Sophomore Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) led the Sioux in kills with 17, while senior Britta Hanson (Thompson, N.D.) added 16 kills on a .519 attack percentage (16k-2e-27a). Hanson was also one of a quartet of UND players with at least five block assists in the match. Senior Megan Langseth (Alexandria, Minn.) ended up assisting on 49 of the team's 56 overall kills.

“Britta was phenomenal for us again,” Hardee said. “Her numbers were really good, getting 16 kills on 27 swings. She also did a great job defensively at the net as well.”

The Sioux defense collected 14 total blocks and 66 digs as it held the Redhawks to just a .080 attack percentage. Three different Sioux players ended up with double figures in digs as junior Cortney Halvorson (Oklee, Minn.) paced the team with a season-high 16.

Senior Lindsay Vortherms (Windom, Minn.) added 15 digs and sophomore Annika Smed had 13 digs to go with a team-high six total blocks. Vortherms equaled her career-high with three service aces.

It was a match of runs for both teams as UND trailed 20-16 in the first set, but went on a 6-0 run to grab the lead and eventually take the opening set, 25-22.

The Sioux was the team with a comfortable lead in the second set at 17-12, but SU rallied back to tie things up at 24-24. However, a kill by senior Amanda Polzin, who finished the match with eight, and an attack error by Kaytln Dill gave the Sioux a 2-0 advantage.

Dill led all players with 19 kills and had seven of those in the third set that the Redhawks won 25-21.

The fourth set went into extra points just the second one and this time SU was able to rally for the victory and force a fifth set. The Sioux had match point at 24-23, but a service error by Hanson squared the match up at 24-24 and Dill was able to put SU ahead with her sixth kill of the set and win it with a service ace.

In the fifth set, SU jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead, but after Hardee called a time out, the team settled down and went on a 7-1 run. Junior Erin Joki had two of her four kills during the critical fifth set. Her first kill tied the set at 8-8 and her second one put the Sioux ahead 12-9. Hanson finished things off with her 16th kill of the evening, giving the Sioux a 15-11 victory.

It was the second five-set match of the season for the Sioux, who lost their previous five-setter to Montana on Sept. 11.

UND will travel to the Western part of Washington to face Gonzaga on Wednesday at 9 p.m. CT. It will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Sioux and Redhawks will play the back end of their home-and-home series on Saturday in Grand Forks at 7 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Erin Joki: RS; 5' 11"; Junior

#6 Megan Langseth: S; 5' 9"; Senior

#4 Amanda Polzin: MH; 6' 1"; Senior

#2 Annika Smed: OH; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#5 Devin Trefz: OH; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#3 Lindsay Vortherms: DS/L; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#15 Erin Joki
: 5' 11"; Junior
: RS

#6 Megan Langseth
: 5' 9"; Senior
: S

#4 Amanda Polzin
: 6' 1"; Senior
: MH

#2 Annika Smed
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: OH

#5 Devin Trefz
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: OH

#3 Lindsay Vortherms
: 5' 8"; Senior
: DS/L