GREEN BAY, Wis. - In their final match of the Green Bay/Country Inn and Suites Tournament, the Fighting Sioux (1-2) dropped a hard-fought, five-set match to James Madison (1-2).
The Dukes grabbed the initial set (25-15), but the Sioux fired back with a 25-21 win in set two to knot it at 1-1, and then took a 2-1 lead winning the third set 25-16.
Senior Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) led the charge in the second set with six kills and then added another four in set three. She finished the match with 12 kills, three aces and five block assists.
James Madison grabbed a 25-17 win in the fourth set to push the match to an extended fifth set. Both sides battled through the final stanza, but the Dukes came away with an eventual 24-22 win to take the 3-2 match victory.
"We got ahead 2-1, but we just weren't able to close out the match," head coach Ashley Hardee said. "We played well in spurts all weekend, but we really struggled to develop consistency.
"We have the first tournament under our belts and now it's time to prepare for this coming weekend and the remainder of the season."
To lead the Sioux, senior Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) finished with her second double-double of the weekend recording a team-high 13 kills and 12 digs. She was key in keeping that fifth set close with five of UND's total 12 kills.
Sophomore Lisa Parlich (Delavan, Wis.) led the team with eight blocks (one solo), sophomore Erica Turner (Andover, Minn.) recorded 26 digs, and redshirt freshman Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) finished with 35 assists and 12 digs.
UND will open the 2011 home schedule next weekend when it hosts the North Dakota Volleyball Classic. The Sioux will first face Montana on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking another crack at Green Bay with a 1 p.m. match on Saturday. They'll close the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Southern Utah later that evening.
- Go Sioux -
