PITTSBURGH – Facing one of the top teams in all of college volleyball, the University of North Dakota fell 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-10) to No. 6 Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening at the Fitzgerald Field House.
 
"That was the most efficient team that we have played in a long, long time," said Head Coach Mark Pryor.
 
The Panthers, who entered as one of only two programs in the country alongside No. 1 BYU with an undefeated record, rode a strong offensive attack that recorded a .364 hitting percentage in the contest. The hosts also finished with five service aces and seven blocks in route to a school-best 18-0 start.
 
Despite the intimidating opponent, Pryor and his team wasn't fazed; as the Fighting Hawks (12-11) turned a challenge into many learning opportunities moving forward into Summit League play.
 
"These matches are huge challenges but they are matches we can learn from," stressed Pryor. "Number one, we can see the little details that great teams pay attention to and we can see that right across the net from us."
 
The 2016 Big Sky Coach of the Year continued.
 
"Number two, we can recognize that we can do some things that teams may struggle with, so we can find some positives from tonight. I think at times our blocking looked really solid, and alongside our middle production, those two thing can be bright spots that we were able to do."
 
Jordan Vail was one of those bright spot for UND on Tuesday, recording eight kills on just 11 total attacks for a .727 hitting percentage. The mark is the highest from the senior in her career when recording at least five kills. Vail, the conference's leading rejection artist, added a trio of block assists to her total for 96 through 2018.
 
Lydia Rutten also shined in the middle as the sophomore matched Vail with nine kills. The New York Mills native finished second on the team with a .400 hitting percentage, tallying only 15 swings. Rutten also assisted on three blocks to help pace the six total on the night for UND.
 
"Our middles hit really well against them," said Pryor on Rutten and Vail. "That is encouraging."
 
Taliyah Flores finished as the team's leader in digs with seven, marking the first time since Aug. 31 vs. Louisiana Tech that the conference's leader in total digs did not reach double digits.  Kayla Williams, who returned to action after missing the previous two matches, finished with five kills, four digs, and two block assists, while Alivia Fraase tallied four digs.
 
UND came out battling in the opening set, rallying from an early hole to cut the Pitt lead down to 8-7 following a kill from Rutten. The Panthers turned in on, however, opening up an 8-1 spurt to take a 15-8 lead at the midway point of the frame. From there, the hosts continued to control the match with a 25-15 victory.
 
The second stanza followed a similar start to the opener as Pitt grabbed an early lead before a nice run from the Hawks brought the visitors right back into the match. Back-to-back blocks from a combination of Vail, Rautio, and Brynn Nieukirk gave UND its first lead of the contest, 5-4, and sent a strong message of resiliency to the other side.  
 
North Dakota's lead continued to grow later in the set as Ashley Brueggeman and Rutten teamed up for a rejection to push the advantage to 8-6, but again Pittsburgh responded by eventually taking a 15-12 lead at the media timeout.
 
Trailing 20-16, the Hawks put another scare into the No. 6 team in the land following a Rutten kill and Pitt attack error to cut the deficit in half and force a timeout. UND scored three straight points after the Panthers reached set point, but were unable to complete the comeback as Pitt claimed a 25-21 triumph and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Pittsburgh controlled the third set as the Panthers finished with a whopping .619 hitting percentage in the final frame to post a 25-10 win and completed the sweep. Despite the defeat, UND continued to fight in the third stanza as Lexi Ahrens collected a kill before Maggie Smith dropped in her third service ace of the match and Vail and Williams recorded a block as the Hawks scored three of the match's final four points.
 
With North Dakota swinging right back into conference play on Friday, Pryor hopes that his team can take some of the lessons learned tonight with them into a tightly-contested Summit League standings as the calendar creeps closer to November.
 
"If we can learn a couple of things from tonight and apply it, then this is totally worth it," Pryor stressed.
 
UND returns to action on Friday evening with a trip down I-29 to battle North Dakota State at 7 p.m. before returning home to host South Dakota on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the annual #SetTheExpectation match.