GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota volleyball team gave its seniors an anything but dull sendoff as the Fighting Sioux played to a five-set victory (25-12, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9) over Houston Baptist this afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
"We had a little bit of a scare here today as Houston Baptist came in and did a great job," head coach Ashley Hardee said. "Their libero is the best in the conference and she can frustrate you a little bit. When you get frustrated, sometimes you hit the ball out of bounds. We had trouble with that in the first two sets and it carried over a little into the third. We were a bit calmer in the fourth and fifth sets, and that was key in picking up this win today."
With the win, UND (22-4, 8-1 GWC) remains tied at the top of the Great West Conference leaderboard with Utah Valley (19-7, 8-1 GWC), who defeated Texas-Pan American earlier this afternoon. The Fighting Sioux and the Wolverines will battle for the regular season title on Nov. 11 in Orem, Utah.
"No surprise, but we have definitely had the Utah Valley match in Utah circled on our calendar since the beginning of the season," Hardee said. "It isn't that we've been looking ahead to that match, it is more that it has provided us with motivation throughout the season.
UND cruised to a 25-12 win in the initial set, but the Huskies fought back with a 25-19 victory in the second frame to tie the match at 1-1.
HBU held a slight advantage to open the third set, but after breaking a 10-10 tie, UND pulled out to a three-point lead. The Sioux and the Huskies found themselves knotted five more times down the stretch until UND broke a 20-20 tie and then tallied the 25-22 victory.
As they did in set three, the Huskies ran past the Sioux early in the fourth frame, and found themselves holding a big 20-11 advantage. Never willing to back down, UND rattled off seven straight points to cut the lead down to two points and then pushed the set to a 22-22 tie. Despite the late-game surge, HBU held on for the 25-23 victory, sending the match to a fifth and final deciding set.
With the match and a possible Great West Conference championship on the line, North Dakota came out strong in the fifth set, and may have rattled the Huskies as HBU committed 10 errors in the fifth set alone. Following a 3-3 tie, the Sioux out-scored HBU 7-2 to lead 10-5. The Huskies managed to cut the margin down to as little as three, but the Fighting Sioux held them off for the 15-9 win.
UND's senior class combined for 61 digs, 33 kills and eight blocks.
Outside hitter Annika Smed, an Albert Lea, Minn., native, tallied her eighth double-double of the season and 40th of her career, finishing with 10 kills and a season-high 31 digs. Outside hitter Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) fired in a season-high 20 kills, middle blocker Tia Russell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) registered six blocks, including a pair of solo stops, and libero Taylor Bohannon (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) picked up 25 digs.
"Our seniors were fantastic today," Hardee said. "Each of them stood out in their own way and really paved the way for the win."
The Fighting Sioux hit the road next week for a pair of non-conference matches. On Monday, the Sioux face South Dakota State and on Tuesday, they take on former GWC rival South Dakota.
- Go Sioux -
