GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Senior Jordan Vail stated prior to Wednesday night's showdown against in-state rival North Dakota State that she will miss playing the local foe at home; however, the San Antonio native provided a fitting conclusion with a career-high 19 kills in the University of North Dakota's 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 24-26, 15-9) victory over the Bison at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
 
In front of 2,401 fans, the third-largest crowd to see a volleyball match in Grand Forks, the Fighting Hawks (10-8, 2-1 Summit League) bent but didn't break as the hosts captured their fourth straight win over NDSU (2-12, 0-3 Summit League) and fifth consecutive at the Betty.
 
"A win is a win, we will take it," said Head Coach Mark Pryor. "Our fans sure got a chance to see us play for longer than three sets huh? Our serving game tonight was just flat out bad. When you give up 13 points (half a set) from the service line, it is going to be really tough to win. We were able to survive that tonight."
 
Vail paced the contest with her 19 kills, needing only 30 attacks to accomplish the feat. The senior hit a season-high .567 for the match, the most by a UND player with at least 19 kills since Lisa Parlich hit .568 and recorded 23 kills against Florida A&M on Sept. 13, 2013. Vail had two solo rejections while also adding four block assists to help the Hawks to match total of 12.
 
Brynn Nieukirk also finished with a career-high 18 kills, eclipsing her previous best of 15 against Charlotte. The freshman has now recorded double-digit kills in three of her last six contests. Nieukirk matched her teammate Vail with two solo blocks while chipping in a block assist.
 
Lydia Rutten became the third Fighting Hawk to reach double figures in kills as well as setting a new personal best with 11 kills to get to double digits for the second time this year, passing the sophomore's previous high of 10 against New Orleans. Rutten was a key to the victory in the fifth set, helping the Hawks jump out to a 3-0 lead with start from the service line.
 
Kayla Williams continued to do what she does best, get double-doubles. The junior transfer recorded her 13th double-double of the year in just the 18th match with 10 kills and 14 digs. Williams also added two block assists and has now gone eight consecutive contests with a double-double.
 
Roosa Rautio has continued to improve as the season has progressed as the freshman also set a new career mark with 61 assists, the 18th most by a player this season. One of the conference's top helpers, Rautio has now recorded at least 40 assists in four of the last five matches while also adding two service aces.
 
Taliyah Flores continues to shine for the Hawks in the libero role, reaching the 30-dig plateau for the third time this season. The league's best since she took over the role in September, the freshman is now averaging 5.44 digs per set in the month.
 
While her streak of three straight matches with a service ace came to an end, Tamika Brekke provided another solid option in the back for UND as the senior finished second on the team with 17 digs. Alivia Fraase became the fourth UND player to eclipse double digits with 12 digs.  
 
"Brynn had a career high in kills, so that was nice to see," said Pryor. "Jordan did a great job of being available and Roosa was able to find her. Lydia was very efficient tonight, so that was a good sign."
 
UND came out attacking in the opening set, building an early 11-4 lead after a Nieukirk kill to bring the crowd to its feet and force a NDSU timeout. The Bison slowly chipped into the lead, whittling the deficit down to one on multiple occasions before a kill from McKenzie Burke gave the Bison a 22-21 advantage.
 
Out of a timeout, Ashley Brueggeman responded with a kill, Fraase dropped in a service ace, Rutten slammed down another kill, and Brueggeman and Rutten teamed up for a block to complete the 4-0 run and gave the hosts a 25-22 victory in the opening set.
 
In the second set it was NDSU who came out with authority, scoring 10 of the first 14 points of the frame to take a 10-4 lead put the Hawks in a rare hole at home. Much like the Bison in the opening stanza, the Hawks would not go away as UND scored 11 of the next 16 points to eventually even the set at 15 and a Bison timeout.
 
North Dakota continued to roll out of the break after back-to-back attack errors by the visitors prompted the Hawks to another 6-1 spurt that was capped off by a Rutten kill and Flores service ace pushed the advantage to 21-16.
 
The teams went back-and-forth until Brueggeman and Rutten went back-to-back again as the sophomore slammed down a kill from the middle of the floor to give UND a 25-20 triumph in the second set and send the hosts into the intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
NDSU responded in the third set by forcing eight North Dakota attack errors for a match-low .054 hitting percentage as the Bison claimed the frame by a 25-18 score. The set victory by the Bison was their first since Sept. 2014 and first inside the Betty since Sept. 2011, extending the match into a fourth set.
 
The fourth set proved to be quite the affair as UND tied for a match-high .343 hitting percentage in a losing effort. The frame was highly contested, with neither side taking a lead larger than two until the 17-14 mark. The Hawks looked to be in control when Nieukirk gave the hosts a 22-17 lead with a kill and an attack error by the Bison gave UND match point, 24-21, just moments later.
 
However, the Bison rallied by scoring the next five points on two UND attack errors, a pair of service aces, and a kill to flip the set on its head and escape with a 26-24 win to push the match into a tie-breaking fifth set.
 
"We are just wildly inconsistent right now," stressed Pryor. "It's fun, but it is definitely frustrating. We are starting to see small glimpses of great play. We just have to keep working the details, and not cut corners."
 
UND rolled in the fifth, never letting the deficit fall to fewer than two in a 15-9 triumph. Rutten helped get the hosts going from the service line by staking the Hawks to a 3-0 lead before another service ace by Rautio extended the advantage to 10-6 and force a timeout. Out of the break, UND scored five of the final eight points to hold on for the 3-2 match victory.
 
"I really like how we responded in set 5," said Pryor. "After we had 3 match points in set 4, and didn't convert, that could have been a huge emotional turn. I really like how our kids were frustrated, but not despondent. They just really played a clean fifth set to get the win."
 
North Dakota returns to action on Friday evening with another conference showdown against Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on FOX Sports North PLUS and FOX College Sports Atlantic (Delayed, 11 p.m.).
 
NOTES: UND improves to 7-2 against NDSU in the Division I era and a perfect 5-0 at home … North Dakota is now 21-9 in five-set matches under Mark Pryor and 4-1 this season … Tonight's attendance of 2,401 is the third-most at the Betty for a volleyball match … Wednesday marks the first five-set meeting between UND and NDSU since Oct. 2003 and first in Grand Forks since Oct. 1996.