GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- Host North Dakota posted its sixth straight win overall and 12th consecutive victory over Montana with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-16 sweep Saturday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The win keeps UND all alone in first place in the league's North Division at the midway point of the schedule (7-1).

UND (15-8, 7-1) was led by junior Tamara Merseli, who logged her eighth double-double of the season with a team-high 14 kills to go along with 17 digs. Chelsea Moser added 10 kills with 7 digs as North Dakota rebounded from a sluggish start to sweep Montana for the ninth time in 10 tries since joining the Big Sky Conference.

"We gutted out the first set with an ugly win, but the important thing is we got that first set, no matter how, we got it done," UND head coach Mark Pryor said. "The second and third we got back to normal and played efficiently.

"So we are now 7-1 in league play. That's a solid start, but our next two weeks are going to be that 'separation stretch' with five matches on the road in nine days. We've got to be ready for tough road trips and every team coming after us, as teams are looking to qualify for the Big Sky tourney or jockeying for position."

That first set was largely controlled by Montana (4-14, 1-7) as UND uncharacteristically gave away seven points via attack errors in that frame alone. In fact, four of the Griz' first five points came from North Dakota attack errors as it was 5-1 quickly in favor of the road team. Senior Chelsea Moser then had three straight kills in a stretch to help work it back to a tie score. The key spurt was with UND trailing by one at 18-17 before four straight Fighting Hawks' points triggered a timeout and North Dakota hung on for a 25-23 win. 

The second and third sets were in stark contrast to the first as North Dakota hit .321 combined over those two frames after mustering just a .132 clip in the first. Tamara Merseli registered 11 of her team-high 14 kills in those final two sets as UND moved to 10-0 against Montana since joining the Big Sky Conference, nine of those via sweeps. 

North Dakota takes to the road next week to start a five-match road swing, heading to Idaho State Friday before a Saturday tilt at Weber State.