GRAND FORKS, N.D. ?- It was a big night for the Fighting Sioux. Senior Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) was presented with an autographed ball in honor of her 1,000th kill, fellow senior Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) moved up the leaderboard to become UND's all-time leader in points scored (rally), and to top it all off, the Sioux (12-3) picked up a quick sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-19) over former North Central Conference rival South Dakota State (11-7).
"Anytime we play someone from the region, we know that it is going to be a rivalry match and that we're going to get their best effort," head coach Ashley Hardee said. "We've knocked off North Dakota State, Montana and now SDSU. To be able to beat these regional teams that we see everywhere when we are out recruiting is great for our program."
It was a big win for the Sioux who kick off the Great West Conference schedule this Saturday against Utah Valley.
"It was a pretty solid performance for us," Hardee said. "We came out and attacked the ball very well, which was something we didn't do as well the other night against Nebraska Omaha."
The Sioux opened the match hitting .306 (13k-2e-36a) in the initial set. Trefz and sophomore middle blocker Ronni Munkeby (Lisbon, N.D.) led the way with four kills apiece. Trefz was a driving force in UND's second and third set wins, leading both sides with six and five kills, respectively.
"Devin played fantastic tonight," Hardee said. "If we can get this type of performance from her consistently as we move forward, we will be very difficult to compete with."
Trefz finished the night with a season-best .407 hitting percentage after landing 15 kills on 27 swings. She also added a trio of solo blocks and a block assist.
After scoring 5.5 points in the opening set, Trefz surpassed Tara Holmen's (2004-07) mark of 1,445 career points to become UND's all-time leader in career points scored (rally). Along with tonight's 18.5 points, Trefz leads the way with a five-year total of 1,460.5.
Redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) was key in setting Trefz up for the kill. She finished the night with 42 assists, eight digs, and an ace.
On defense, Smed tallied a team-high 17 digs and classmate Taylor Bohannon (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) added another 14.
The Fighting Sioux will face the Utah Valley Wolverines this Saturday starting at 4 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
NOTES: Head coach Ashley Hardee holds a career record of 59-14 at UND ... The Sioux are now 23-48 against the Jackrabbits ... Fighting Sioux top 10 career watch list: Devin Trefz is No. 1 in rally points scored (1,460.5), No. 5 in attack attempts (3,307), and No. 6 in kills (1,208); Annika Smed is No. 6 in rally points scored (1,256) and attack attempts (3,091), and No. 9 in digs (1,194).
- Go Sioux -
