TAMPA, Fla. – Finally concluding a stretch of eight matches in nine days away from Grand Forks, the University of North Dakota volleyball team ended its trip with a 3-1 victory over New Orleans to close the USF Classic on Saturday morning in Tampa.
 
"Today we did much better on the offensive side of the ball," said Head Coach Mark Pryor. "We really limited our hitting errors and that was a key to helping keep us in control in the match when some other phases of the game weren't there."
 
As a team, UND (8-7) hit .299 and committed only 11 attack errors while forcing the Privateers (6-8) into 17 errors.
 
Kayla Williams led the Fighting Hawks offensively, matching a game-high 14 kills on just 43 attacks to hit .302 for the match. The junior also added 11 digs and a pair of block assists to record her 11th double-double of the season.
 
Jordan Vail was also strong in the middle for the Hawks, posting a .500 hitting percentage with 13 kills and two block assists. Ashley Brueggeman added 11 kills while Lydia Rutten chipped in 10 of her own to see four UND players reach double figures in kills.
 
Roosa Rautio turned in another solid performance from the setter position with 45 assists and nine digs to just miss out on a double-double. The freshman also added a pair of kills, a block assist, and a service ace in the victory.
 
Less than 24 hours after recording the most digs in a North Dakota uniform since 2015, Taliyah Flores led the Hawks with 24 digs and also a trio of assists and two service aces. Alivia Fraase added 21 digs of her own as the pair were both named to the USF Classic All-Tournament Team for their strong performances.
 
While UND only recorded four blocks this morning, Pryor was still pleased with his team's overall defensive effort.
 
"Our blocking wasn't really there today, and sometimes that happens," said Pryor. "We are steadily getting better on the defensive side of the ball from a reading and reacting and even being proactive and anticipate a little better."
 
Both sides went on runs in the opening set, however, New Orleans looked to take control late in the frame after a service error gave the Privateers a 24-21 lead and set point. With their backs pressed against the wall, the Hawks responded in resounding fashion by scoring the next five points to turn a 24-21 deficit into a 26-24 set victory.
 
UND forced a pair of errors and got a Rutten kill to even the set at 24 and push the stanza into extra points. From there, Fraase dropped a perfect service for an ace and Brueggeman followed with a kill to complete the rally and give the Hawks a 1-0 match lead.
After New Orleans answered with a 25-20 set victory of its own in the second to even the match at one, the teams traded early runs again in the third set as UND eventually claimed an 8-7 lead. It was there that the green and white started a 5-1 run to push the advantage to 13-8 and force a UNO timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, the Hawks maintained their advantage for the remainder of the set to hold on for a 25-21 triumph to take a 2-1 lead in the match and take back control of the momentum.
 
 The Privateers came out swinging to begin the fourth, grabbing an early 4-2 advantage; however, the early lead was not enough as UND erupted on an 8-0 run to completely swing the tide of the set. After a Williams kill moved the ball to the UND side of the net, Tamika Brekke took over on the service line with a pair of aces as well as setting up two kills from both Williams and Vail to take a 10-4 lead.
 
The Hawks continued to put the pressure on throughout the frame, holding the Privateers to just a .118 hitting percentage while recording a .360 hitting percentage for themselves to polish off a 25-17 victory and win the match, 3-1.
 
North Dakota will begin its march to the top of The Summit League next week with a road trip to Western Illinois on Friday and Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday for the first Summit League matches in UND history.
 
"We still have not put a complete match together in all phases, so that's something we need to work on this week as we begin league play," said Pryor. It's actually encouraging to see that this group can still improve on so many things."