GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- North Dakota handed Sacramento State its first Big Sky Conference loss with a thrilling 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 15-13) win at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center Thursday night. UND had five players in double figures in kills led by senior Chelsea Moser's 18.
Julia Kaczorowska added 13 kills for UND while Ashley Brueggeman chipped in a career-high dozen with Faith Dooley at 11 and Tamara Merseli with 10. Merseli registered her sixth double-double of the season, generating a season-high 28 digs in the win. Junior Sydney Griffin tallied 54 assists and 17 digs for her fifth double-double while Dooley contributed nine of UND's 12 total blocks.
"Tonight was just a flat out fun match," UND head coach Mark Pryor said. "Sacramento State is a great team, and even though we only see them once a year, that is a match I always look forward to. They are very well coached, and they have a really high IQ. I feel like we just made a couple plays at the right time.
"We had great balance on offense and defense tonight with five players in double digit kills. Sydney Griffin did a great job of finding the open hitter for us."
UND (12-8, 4-1 Big Sky) now finds itself atop the Big Sky North Division with Northern Colorado and in a four-way tie with Northern Arizona and Sacramento State for the top spot for tournament seedings.
It was a battle throughout with neither team distancing itself in any set, save for a lop-sided third for North Dakota. Sac State (10-9, 4-1) took the first frame, 25-22, after 11 tie scores in a see-saw affair.
The second saw Tamara Merseli in on the final five points for UND to boost the home team to a 25-21 win, tying the match and sending all the momentum into the Fighting Hawks' locker room at the intermission.
It would stay there as UND jumped out to a big lead in the third and never looked back, etching an easy 25-15 victory to take control of the match. The Hornets battled back for a 25-20 win in the fourth and it went to a deciding fifth set.
North Dakota grabbed the early advantage but had to rally after Sac State knotted it at 13-all after trailing by as many as three. Faith Dooley and Merseli killed the final two points in an exhilarating win, setting up a mess in the league standings.
"Portland State is going to come in here ready to get after it," Pryor said about Saturday's match. "They are another great team that is high IQ and well balanced. We cannot be satisfied with this one win come tomorrow morning. We have to be ready to get to work and fight as hard as we can one more time this week."
North Dakota continues its four-match homestand with a 2:00 p.m. start against the Vikings on Saturday.
