GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- In front of the fourth-largest crowd to watch a UND volleyball match at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, North Dakota defeated Omaha, 25-17, 25-12, 25-18 in the season opener for both teams Friday night. An announced crowd of 2,056 witnessed a decisive victory for the home team, a match in which UND committed just six attack errors all evening.
"Our kids, they would tell you, they were a little nervous to start," UND head coach Mark Pryor admitted. "The anxiousness subsided and we got rolling a bit. In the third set, we didn't have the urgency that we needed until it got to 13-all and then we finished it off and we got a chance to play a lot of people.
"If you make fewer errors, you have a much better chance to win. I've been preaching that since I got here. I think that we're getting it. Tomorrow will be a good chance to see how we stack up against some larger schools in some big conferences."
UND certainly made fewer errors, recording just six the entire evening, the second-fewest in Pryor's tenure. Omaha, meanwhile, hit just -.025 through the first two sets, combining for 22 errors in those two frames alone as the home team picked up momentum.
The Mavs actually took the early lead with a 5-1 start but the Fighting Hawks quickly rallied, scoring 11 of the next 14 points to seize control. That first set would end 25-17 in favor of UND and the roll continued into the next set.
In that frame, North Dakota would outhit the Mavs, .435 to -.088, taking the set handily, 25-12.
Omaha came out of the intermission attempting to stay with the Fighting Hawks, but a 9-2 run midway through boosted the home team to a 25-18 victory. UND's newcomers were key in the win with junior college transfer Tamara Merseli leading the way with 10 kills on the night. Redshirt freshman Alivia Fraase got the start at libero, collecting 14 digs. Upperclassmen Faith Dooley (9 kills) and Chelsea Moser (8 kills) combined for 17 kills against just one hitting error.
North Dakota will play Ole Miss at noon and wraps the UND Classic with a 7:00 p.m. match tomorrow against UC Davis.
Notes: Omaha held a 42-12 edge in the all-time series between the schools coming into the match ... A number of players made their debuts in a UND uniform (Tamara Merseli, Tamika Brekke, Ashley Brueggeman, Teo Tepavac, Alivia Fraase, Sidney Mattson, Jordan Vail) ... Tonight's attendance was the fourth-largest volleyball crowd in the history of the Betty (largest against a team other than NDSU).
