NACOGDOCHES, Texas - With another aggressive showing on both sides of the net, North Dakota defeated host Stephen F. Austin, 3-1, during the final day of play at the Chilly Fillmore's SFA Invitational.
"It was a full team effort on both sides of the ball," head coach Ashley Hardee said. "We were aggressive blocking, digging, and serving, and we put up some nice kill numbers as well. All around it was a great match."
The Fighting Sioux won the opening set 25-18, but after a close battle in set two, the Ladyjacks knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win. UND and SFA stayed even in the first half of the third set until a trio of big Sioux blocks set them up for the 25-16 victory. UND put the match away with a 25-19 triumph in the fourth set.
Once again it was the offensive quartet of senior outside hitters Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.), sophomore middle blocker Ronni Munkeby (Lisbon, N.D.), and true freshman outside hitter Felicia Ulrich (Woodbury, Minn.) that led the Sioux in Texas.
The Sioux spread the wealth on defense as four players finished with double-figure digs and six players got in on the blocks. UND out-blocked SFA 13.5-6.
Smed finished with 10 kills and 15 digs for her third consecutive double-double, Trefz landed 15 kills and a pair of aces, and Munkeby recorded a season-high 13 kills on 27 swings and a season-best nine block assists. Ulrich had yet another career night, reaching new personal marks in kills (17), attacks (27), block assists (four) and points (19.0).
"Ronni and Felicia really shined for us again on both offense and defense today," Hardee said. "As I said yesterday, they've really stepped up their game here in Texas."
Senior defensive specialist Taylor Bohannon (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) registered a team- and career-high 18 digs and redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) came away with 48 assists and a career-best 13 digs.
"Taylor and Nikki did a great job tonight on serve receive, the entire team did," Hardee said. "Our ability to dig the ball out was one of the key factors in setting us apart. And then Nikki's ability to really spread the ball around gave a lot of players swings."
UND out-hit the Ladyjacks in all four sets, finishing with a .260 team attack percentage. SFA was held under .100 in the final two sets.
The Fighting Sioux will close the weekend against Sam Houston State tonight at 5 p.m.
- Go Sioux -
