GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- North Dakota won an exhilarating 25-27, 26-24, 25-18, 27-29, 15-11 marathon over visiting Green Bay in the opening match of the UND Classic Thursday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND has now won its last eight matches that have gone to a fifth set.

"This win had much less to do with the coaching staff and everything to do with the strength staff led by Aaron Schwenzfeier," UND head coach Mark Pryor said of his team's effort in the lengthy match. "We commit to lifting and training with him three times a week during the season and there's a reason our hitting percentage kept going up as the match went on. A credit to him and to our girls for training outside of the gym."

Green Bay (4-3) won the first set and stretched the second set to extra points and won the fourth, 29-27, but it was North Dakota that had the gas in the decider. UND won, 15-11, to improve to 4-4 overall this season.

Faith Dooley, Chelsea Moser, Julia Kaczorowska and Courtney Place each had kills to get UND off to a 4-0 jumpstart, but it would be short-lived as Green Bay rallied to claim the lead at 8-6 in the first set. This would set the tone for the night as neither team took control of the match with the score remaining tight throughout. With the score 19-17 in favor of the Phoenix, UND called a timeout and came out of the break with the next three points to pull back in front. The final point in that run was kept alive on a spectacular save by McKenzie Hart, part of her whopping 13 digs in that set alone, before Courtney Place hammered home one of her career-high 19 kills for the match. She followed it up with two more to exhaust GB's second timeout. She would finish the first frame with six kills but the Phoenix rallied for a 26-24 victory for a 1-0 lead.

The second set began with another fast UND start as the home team ripped off nine of the first 13 points to force a Green Bay timeout. Green Bay would eventually build a 21-16 advantage before UND burned through its final timeout. Coming out of that stoppage, North Dakota scored six consecutive points to erase the deficit. With the score 23-all, UND had to fend off a set point with a Kaczorowska kill to knot it at 24-24 then back-to-back attack errors tied the match at one set apiece.

UND distanced itself in the third set at its conclusion with a 7-2 run to take it, 25-18. It marked the lone time all night that either team had held a lead that large in a match that saw each point hotly contested. In that frame, UND hit .269 to just .031 for Green Bay in the only set that wasn't razor close.

After the Phoenix got out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth, UND had the answer with an 8-4 run of its own immediately following. A key point in the stretch was a nifty one-handed set by Sydney Griffin that was blasted home by Dooley, helping North Dakota get it back even at 14-all. That was one of an incredible 14 tie scores in that set alone. Green Bay had the first opportunity to close out the set, 24-23, but a block by Moser and Griffin re-set the score. after a Phoenix attack error, UND had its first match point. GB again fought it off and another before earning a 29-27 victory to send it to a fifth set.

The decider started innocently enough at 2-2, but UND ripped off four of the next five points, the final coming on a Place service ace to get the crowd to its feet and prompt a Green Bay timeout. The Phoenix would sneak back to within one at 8-7, however, North Dakota counter-punched with kills from Moser, Place and finally Dooley to lock up the set and the win, 15-11.

Place's 19 kills and 11 digs marked her third double-double of the young season. Kaczorowska added 14 kills while Dooley chipped in 13 and Moser collected 11 for North Dakota. Hart finished the night with 31 digs, tying a season and career high.

The UND Classic continues through Saturday with nine more matches, five on Friday. North Dakota will play at noon against Drake before an evening tilt against rival South Dakota at 7:30 p.m. Friday.