GRAND FORKS, N.D. – In front of a near-capacity crowd at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, the University of North Dakota defeated North Dakota State in straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) on Tuesday evening.

UND (16-7) finishes non-conference play with a 12-5 record, including a 6-0 mark at home.

“I think we really fed off the crowd tonight,” said head coach Mark Pryor. “I'm thankful for every North Dakota, and every Bison fan that showed up. It's great for the state. It's great for high school volleyball and volleyball in the state. This truly isn't just a game, it's an event.”

After falling at home to Idaho State on Saturday, UND knew that the crowd would play a large part in helping UND get back on track at the Betty; a place where UND has dominated opponents since its opening.

“We talked about it in-between sets, we wanted to give our crowd something to get excited about,” said Pryor on the keeping the crowd in the game. “Don't just go through the motions…show them energy, show them joy.”

The first set saw both teams trade points in the early portions of the game, with neither team really grabbing control of the set.

Around the midway point of the first set, UND held a 12-9 lead and looked to pull away from its rival. However, Brianna Rasmusson's two kills and UND's three attack errors sparked the Bison to a 5-0 run to gain a 14-12 lead and grab all of the momentum.

While Pryor may have thought about calling a timeout, he decided to let his young team try and battle through the adversity and regain the momentum and get the crowd back into the match.

The gamble for Pryor worked out as the next point became the turning point of the match for UND as the two teams squared off in a rally that included 18 changes of possession before a Jenni Fassbender error to give UND the much-needed point.

“The longer the rallies went, the more they got into it,” said Pryor on the long rallies sparking the crowd.

The crowd of 2,232 rose to its feet to salute UND following the rally and the green and white were able to give the crowd more and more fuel.

Following the rally, UND received kills from Courtney Place and Julia Kaczorowska to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 15-14 lead heading into the media timeout.

UND was able to ride the momentum swing of that rally and carry it for a 25-21 win in the first set.

A first-set win that was big following last season's 3-1 to NDSU in Fargo, a match where UND trailed 2-0, and couldn't get any momentum on its side.

The second set began much like the first, with both teams trading points throughout. With North Dakota leading 8-7, UND was able to get the set's first separation as a kill by Faith Dooley, a NDSU attack error, and a service ace by Courtney Place gave the green and white an 11-7 lead and forced a NDSU timeout.

Following the timeout, NDSU was able to compose itself and climb right back into the game, eventually tying the score at 12, 14, 15, 16, and 19, and took leads at 14-13 and 15-14.

With the score even at 19 and following a UND timeout, a nifty kill by Sydney Griffin and two-consecutive NDSU attack errors gave UND a 22-19 lead.

The Bison were able to close to lead to as close as 22-21, but a block by Griffin and Dooley, followed by two-consecutive errors gave UND the 25-21 win in the second set.

The block by Griffin and Dooley were one of seven for UND on the night and gave UND a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.

In the third set, the feeling was as if the crowd was watching a replay of the first two sets with long rallies and both teams trading points.

With North Dakota holding a 10-8 lead midway through the third set, NDSU committed a service error followed by two-consecutive attack errors from Emily Minnick to give UND a 13-8 lead and forced the Bison to use a timeout.

As NDSU inched closer, another long rally finished with a block from Kaczorowska and Chelsea Moser to place the final dagger in the Bison and give UND a seemingly insurmountable 16-12 lead.

“We're built right now to extend the rally more,” Pryor said. “They want to pass and set and put it away as fast as possible. If they're putting it away quicker, then we're in trouble because they're good at that.”

Following the block, North Dakota's lead never quite seemed in doubt again as UND finished off the sweep of the Bison with a 25-19 win in the third set.

Place finished the night with 12 kills to lead all players and 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.

UND also held NDSU to only three blocks, while the green and white picked up seven.

North Dakota also finished with 67 digs, led by the NCAA Division I digs-leader McKenzie Hart, who had 28.

UND picks up its ninth win at the Betty this season, a mark that leads the Big Sky Conference.

“I'm from Texas and Texas A&M has the 12th Man. Well, our crowd was the 7th Man tonight, and it was unbelievable what they were able to do for us,” Pryor said.

Whether it's Texas A&M playing Texas or North Dakota playing North Dakota State, these are the games that both teams will look back on at the end of their collegiate careers.

“The atmosphere in here was insane,” Place said. “I have to thank everyone for coming. I could hear everyone cheering and it made me want to get the ball more.”

Praise towards the atmosphere was also coming from the NDSU side as Bison coach Kari Thompson also believed the crowd had an effect on her team.

“I think anytime when you come to play in Grand Forks the crowd is definitely a factor,” Thompson said. “Whether it's the Hyslop of old or in here, you have to come ready to compete and we just weren't ready for it tonight.”

NOTES: Tonight's crowd of 2,232 is the second-largest crowd to watch a volleyball match at the Betty … UND now owns a 4-2 record against NDSU in the Division I era … Tonight's win was also the 98th for UND at the Betty and is now 76-13 at home since 2008.

-UND-