GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- Visiting Omaha sneaked within a game of undefeated Denver for first place in The Summit League, defeating North Dakota (25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20) Friday evening in front of 956 fans at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Omaha picked up its ninth conference win on the season to tie the Pioneers with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Mavs had a fend off a fierce rally in the final two sets to notch the win. 

Omaha's (14-9, 9-2 Summit) duo of Sadie Limback (16 kills) and Isabella Sade (14 kills) proved too much for an undermanned Fighting Hawks squad playing without key athletes, including starters Taliyah Flores and Brynn Nieukirk.

"We had some chances there in the fourth, but a made a few miscues," UND head coach Mark Pryor said. "This is a good group, they fought hard and they meshed together. What they didn't have as far as comfort in certain positions, they did have as far as chemistry and that's what's really important to me." 

UND (13-14, 5-6 Summit) trailed 23-19 in the first set, then Lydia Rutten placed a ball perfectly in the back row followed by a Madi Hart ace and a block by Lexi Ahrens and Jordan Vail forced an Omaha timeout. Out of the stoppage, the Mavericks finished off the set with a kill and a UND attack error for a 25-22 victory in the opener. 

Omaha raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second and held a 9-3 advantage as UND called a timeout. The Mavs were not pressured in that set, as North Dakota got it to 12-8 but no closer with Omaha closing out the frame, 25-16. 

UND led 10-5 to force a timeout in the third and built its lead to as many as seven, but a 4-0 spurt quelled the momentum and North Dakota took a timeout to regroup, leading 12-9. Omaha ate into that lead and eventually tied it at 15-all. Omaha then seemed to take a stranglehold on the set and the match with a late 4-1 run to reposition in front, 23-20. From there, however, North Dakota ripped off five consecutive points to extend the match and take set three, 25-23. In that run, Omaha accounted for four attack errors, one on a Darian Chwialkowski block. 

The Mavs wouldn't let UND's run bleed into the next set, however, as Omaha scored five of the first six points and UND was again faced with taking an early timeout. The Mavericks continued to stack onto its advantage, leading 9-2. With the score 14-8 Omaha, UND setter Roosa Rautio came up injured on a play but continued to play, battling through pain as backup setter Julia Vetter was on the bench in street clothes with an illness. A long rally went to North Dakota as Ashley Brueggeman made a diving save then put a ball away along the back line to energize the crowd. UND added another point for a 16-13 deficit and Omaha now found itself having to take a timeout. The Fighting Hawks kept clawing. Brueggeman powered down four kills in the 9-5 UND run that made it 18-17. Omaha finished the set with four of the final six points to take the match, 3-1. 

Brueggeman tied a career-high 17 kills, a number she's reached three other times in her career while Vail added 10 for the Fighting Hawks. Alivia Fraase charted 29 digs defensively. 

North Dakota heads to South Dakota State Tuesday before closing out the home schedule next Thursday and Saturday against Western Illinois and Purdue Fort Wayne, respectively.