MISSOULA, Mont.-- With help from a career-high seven kills from Kristen Giesbrecht, the University of North Dakota clinched a spot in the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a convincing 25-14, 25-22, 28-26 win over host Montana Saturday evening. North Dakota has now qualified for the postseason league tournament in each of its four seasons in the Big Sky Conference.
"At our pre-match scouting report, we explained all of the possible scenarios for us to get into the conference tournament-- tie breaking procedures, sets won, points scored, points scored against-- It was a lot of information," UND head coach Mark Pryor said.
"Finally, we just said, 'hey, why don't we just go out and win?' They did that, and they did a great job tonight. We talked about everyone just doing their job., no more no less. We all did.
"Kristin played the best match of her career tonight, and I could not be more proud of how she has stepped in and completely stepped up."
Giesbrecht's career-high in kills (7) came on just 16 swings without an error for a hefty .438 hitting percentage as UND out-hit UM, .283 to .132 for the match. Complementing Giesbrecht's effort was a match-high 15 kills from Courtney Place with eight more finishes from Chelsea Moser and seven from Faith Dooley.
North Dakota (19-12, 7-7) won its third straight road match and punched its ticket to the upcoming eight-team league tournament with Saturday's win. It was a victory that saw UND lead for the bulk of it, with the road team's first deficit not occurring until the third set. UND had easily handled the first set, 25-14, hitting .382 in that tone-setting opening frame.
It was a 25-22 win in the second set for North Dakota as the offense continued to click along, taking an early 15-9 advantage and reaching the finish line at 25-22 for a two-sets-to-none edge in the match.
Montana (7-19, 3-11) got out to a quick 3-0 start coming out of the break, but it would be short-lived as UND rallied quickly to turn the tables for a 14-9 lead. The Griz fought off a match point for UND at 24-23 and actually had a pair of set points of their own before North Dakota ended the match with the final three points, the first a Sydney Griffin kill (4 kills, 34 assists, 8 digs), a Giebrecht kill and a UM attack error.
North Dakota returns home to host the final two matches of the regular season beginning Thursday with Idaho.
Notes: UND is now 11-1 against Montana all-time and 9-0 since joining the Big Sky Conference ... North Dakota could finish still finish anywhere from fifth to eighth in the postseason league tournament seedings ... Northern Arizona (13-1) holds a two-game lead with two to play for the top seed and hosting rights for the tournament ... McKenzie Hart (1,735) recorded 21 digs Saturday to move within 14 of the school record for digs in a career (1,749) ... Sydney Griffin moved into eighth place for assists in a season (1,257) at North Dakota.
