MACOMB, Ill. – Back in 2012, the University of North Dakota volleyball team collected its first road victory as a member of the Big Sky Conference in a thrilling, five-set win over Weber State. Friday night, the Fighting Hawks triggered some déjà vu with a 3-2 victory at Western Illinois in the program's inaugural match in The Summit League.
 
"A road win in conference is big," said Head Coach Mark Pryor. "I thought at times we looked like a team that could do well in the Summit, other times... well... let's just say we have some work to do, lol."
 
UND (9-7, 1-0 Summit) is now 19-9 in five-set matches in the tenure of Pryor. In his last three schools along his head coaching stops, Pryor has an improbable 32-12 record in five-set tilts. The Fighting Hawks are now 3-1 this season in five-set thrillers, and have gone the distance in four of their last nine contests.
 
Kayla Williams led the way again for the visitors as The Double-Double Machine recorded her 12th of the season with a game-high 17 kills and 11 digs.
 
Ashley Brueggeman continued her solid attack from the right side, reaching double figures in kills with 14. Her .256 hitting percentage marks the 11th time this season the junior has hit above the .200 mark.
 
Jordan Vail became the third Hawks to record double-digit kills as the senior picked up 12 on just 29 swings for a .345 clip. The conference's leading blocker also added five block assists and a solo rejection.
 
"I thought that our blocking really picked up in sets 3-5 which really helped us," said Pryor. Jordan [Vail], Kayla [Williams], and Ashley [Brueggeman] all really did well from an offensive standpoint."
 
After tallying the most digs in a single match since 2015, Taliyah Flores matched that number with another 36-dig performance on Friday. The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Week also added a service ace and is now averaging 6.12 digs per set over the past six contests.
 
Roosa Rautio also turned in another solid performance at the setter spot with 49 assists, seven digs, three block assists, an ace, and a kill.
 
Western Illinois (1-13, 0-1 Summit) held the lead for much of the beginning of the opening set until the Hawks rattled off three straight points capped off by a Tamika Brekke ace and Vail kill to take a 13-11 advantage and force a timeout.
 
Both teams continued to trade points and with the frame tied at 17, UND again broke the set open with a 6-0 run to grab a 23-17 stranglehold. The Fighting Leathernecks chipped the deficit down to one, but the visitors posted back-to-back points and Aliva Fraase dropped an ace to cap off a 25-22 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
 
Western Illinois led wire-to-wire in the second set to claim the stanza, 25-19, and even the match at one heading into the intermission.
 
The third set mirrored the opener with North Dakota taking the early lead before the Leathernecks rallied to take an eventual 14-12 lead after an 8-2 run by the hosts. UND again answered point-for-point to level the set at 17 before the Hawks received two kills from Brynn Nieukirk and forced an attack error to grab a 20-17 lead.
 
Now leading 22-20, Brueggeman took over. The junior slammed down back-to-back kills and recorded a solo rejection to give the Hawks a 25-20 victory in the third and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
 
WIU would not go away quietly, however, as the Leathernecks hit a team-high .281 in the fourth set to record a 25-18 victory and send the match into a tie-breaking fifth frame.
 
In the fifth, UND broke a 3-3 deadlock open with a 5-1 spurt to take an 8-4 lead at the turn. The run was bookended with kills by Williams while a Brekke ace, Vail kill, and WIU attack error helped fuel the push. Brueggeman again put her finishing touches on the match by recording the final three kills for the Hawks and the visitors held on for a 15-8 triumph and a 3-2 match victory.
 
North Dakota returns to action on Sunday afternoon against Purdue Fort Wayne in Indiana. It will mark the first meeting between the programs since 1987 and first as conference mates.
 
"Sunday is going to be a whole different level; Purdue Fort Wayne can absolutely play," said Pryor. "They have a ton of experience. It's going to be a tough match, but one that we will embrace. It's an opportunity for us to be really challenged and see how we respond. I'm looking forward to it."