OGDEN, Utah-- North Dakota remained in a tie for the top spot in the Big Sky Conference's North Division with a 3-1 win at Weber State Saturday evening. The victory put UND's league mark at 8-2, tied with Northern Colorado and just one game back of the overall lead in the conference (Northern Arizona).
A night after tying a career-high with 20 digs Friday at Idaho State, junior setter Sydney Griffin notched a double-double with a career-best 10 kills and adding 51 assists in the win, adding three digs and a pair of blocks. She was one of four UND players with double-digit kill totals, paced by Chelsea Moser's match-high 15. Julia Kaczorowska added 13 while Faith Dooley chipped in 10 for North Dakota.
"Tonight we played against the most improved team in the league in Weber state. I fully expect them to be in the Big Sky Tournament," UND head coach Mark Pryor said. "It gets nothing but harder from here, but it's a relief to get the road split this weekend.
"They had no answer for Sydney Griffin attacking tonight. Because she was so offensive, it really opened things up for the other hitters."
Griffin set up all of her weapons all night, and in the first set it was an efficient UND attack that hit .432 with 20 kills. Kaczorowska benefitted in the first frame, finishing five swings on just 10 attempts as UND led from start to finish in the opening set en route to a 25-20 win.
In the second, Weber State (13-6, 4-6) rallied to claim a 25-21 win to even the match. In that set, UND was held to just a .167 hitting percentage. But, North Dakota roared back in the third to again win, 25-20. In that set, a frame-ending 8-1 spurt was the key run.
That momentum would bridge to the next set as UND took eight of the first 11 points to force an early Wildcat timeout. Back-to-back kills by Griffin in that set punctuated the strong play by the visitors and they never looked back to earn a 25-22 win and earned a split on the weekend. UND and Northern Colorado now lead the Big Sky North at 8-2 with six matches to play.
UND remains on the road next week, playing three matches. North Dakota heads to Fargo, N.D., to battle in-state rival NDSU Tuesday before returning to conference play against Montana and Montana State on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
