GRAND FORKS, N.D. - It wasn't just a win, it was a statement.
It's been nine years since the North Dakota State (6-3) volleyball team has made the trip to Grand Forks, and the Fighting Sioux (5-2) made sure they'll never forget tonight's visit. In front of a UND record-setting crowd of 2,394 fans, the Sioux defeated the Bison, 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20) to snap a five-match skid and claim their first victory over the in-state rival since 2002.
"The crowd was electric tonight," head coach Ashley Hardee said. "It was the most energetic crowd that I have seen in a long time. From start to finish, they were behind us and gave us the extra boost of energy that we needed."
"This was a rivalry game," Hardee said. "There was tons of emotion going into it, but I knew our players would come out and fight, and if they played our brand of volleyball, we would come out on top. I can't say anything negative about NDSU, they have a fantastic program, good coaching and great athletes, but I knew our team was good enough to compete, and they proved tonight that they are."
UND won the initial set 25-17. Senior outside hitters Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) led the way with five kills and a block apiece. UND's attackers combined for a .394 hitting percentage compared to NDSU's .143.
The Bison managed to knot the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win in set two. Brynn Joki landed six kills on 11 swings to lead NDSU.
The Fighting Sioux regained the lead with a 25-19 victory in the third frame with a scattered attack. Six players combined for 11 kills and senior Tia Russell (MB, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) landed a pair of aces.
In what proved to be the final frame, UND had to fight its way to the top after the Bison took control early in the set.
"When we were down 14-10, I had a little talk with the team," Hardee said. "I challenged them to bounce back. We came out of the that timeout going point-for-point for a little bit, but then Erica Turner went out on that long point run to give us the lead."
UND took the 20-19 lead on an error by the Bison and then used big blocks at the net by Russell, Trefz and redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) to hold onto the advantage.
"Our blocking was fantastic tonight," Hardee said. "We really got in the way of a lot of their balls and were able to slow them down. Twelve blocks in four sets, that's a big number. That's Fighting Sioux volleyball."
The Sioux closed out the set and the match with strong kills from Smed and Russell.
Smed led the way with her third double-double of the season (13 kills, 17 digs), Trefz landed a season-high 13 kills, and Russell and sophomore Ronni Munkeby (MB, Lisbon, N.D.) finished with eight kills apiece. Russell added a team-high two aces.
On defense, sophomore middle blocker Lisa Parlich (Delavan, Wis.) tallied six blocks (one solo) to lead UND. Munkeby added another five (two solo) and Trefz came away with three (one solo). The Sioux out-blocked the Bison 12-7.
Up next for North Dakota is a trip to California for the San Jose State/Santa Clara Invitational (Sept. 9-10) where it will face UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State and Santa Clara.
MATCH NOTES: Tonight's match marked the most highly attended volleyball match between the Fighting Sioux and the Bison since the series began on Oct. 19, 1976.
- Go Sioux -
