GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Whether it was needed mentally, physically, emotionally, or all of the above, the University of North Dakota volleyball team picked up a much-needed 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-14, 25-20) over South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
 
"This was a team effort, and I'm really proud of how we responded after our last two matches going five," said Head Coach Mark Pryor. "We showed some purpose and urgency."
 
UND (12-8, 4-1 Summit) extended its winning streak to three matches, all coming on its home floor. The Fighting Hawks also remain perfect in Grand Forks, winning their first six matches at home for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Following a loss at home to Texas Tech on Sept. 3, 2016, UND is 29-1 over its last 30 matches and has dropped only 13 sets over that span.
 
Saturday's victory, a league-best fourth in The Summit League this season, snaps a 12-match streak without a win via the sweep. That streak was the longest since North Dakota entered Division I back in 2008. UND extends the DI series against the Jackrabbits (3-14, 0-4 Summit) to 9-1 all-time and 5-0 at the Betty.
 
"We just played basically a third of the entire conference schedule in nine total days," said Pryor. "Yeah, think about that for a minute. For us to get this one in three [sets] really helped. The kids are tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. A couple days off will be good for us."
 
It was another balanced attack on the offensive side of the ball for the Hawks as Jordan Vail led the way with 10 kills. The senior finished as the only UND player to reach double figures, needing only 18 swings to accomplish the feat for a .333 hitting percentage. The conference's leading rejection artists added four more blocks to her resume, giving her 86 total blocks on the year.
 
Kayla Williams just missed out on her 10th straight and 15th overall double-double this season, but finished with nine kills and 12 digs. The junior has tallied 10-or-more digs in 15 of 20 contests this season.
 
Ashley Brueggeman also finished with nine kills for the Hawks, eclipsing a .200 hitting percentage for the 13th time this season with a .286 performance. The junior chipped in a pair of block assists and a trio of digs in the winning effort.
 
Freshman Brynn Nieukirk and sophomore Lydia Rutten each collected seven kills, with Rutten hitting a team-high .438 among players with at least five kills. The New York Mills native is second on the team in hitting (.228) to only Vail with teammates having at least five kills.
 
Taliyah Flores recorded her 13th straight tilt with double digit digs as the freshman posted a match-high 15 on Saturday. The Papillion, Neb., native continues to lead the conference in total digs and is now averaging 4.62 digs per set.
 
Roosa Rautio nearly posted her sixth 40+ assist contest in her last seven, but will have to settle for a 39-helper performance. The conference's top distributer also added four digs, a block assist, and a pair of kills.
 
North Dakota's service game was strong again on Saturday, collecting five aces to just two errors. Alivia Fraase and Tamika Brekke each tallied a pair of aces to lead UND while Rutten chipped in one of her own in the third set to help the Hawks to a sweep.
 
While hot starts were the theme to last night's win for UND, Saturday afternoon proved to be a bit different as the Hawks struggled to get going out of the gate. South Dakota State forced some early errors from the hosts to take a 12-8 lead near the midway point of the opening frame.
 
Needing a spark, UND turned to its pair of seniors to help swing momentum towards its way. Vail got the rally started with back-to-back kills before Brekke dropped in two straight service aces and a Jackrabbit attack error quickly gave the Hawks a 13-12 lead and forced SDSU to call time.
 
The teams traded the next three points out of the break to see the score leveled at 14, but UND rattled off another 4-0 spurt to take an 18-14 advantage and force another timeout. The Hawks held the lead for the remainder of the set, and despite a late push by the Jackrabbits, Vail finished off the first set with a kill for a 25-22 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
 
The numbers have been kind to UND when it wins the opening set, entering Saturday's contest with an 11-2 mark after taking a 1-0 lead in the match. On the contrary, the Hawks are 0-6 this season when dropping the first stanza.
 
SDSU came out firing to begin the second set, recording five kills and a block, to open up an early 6-2 lead. From there, however, UND took over as the hosts exploded on a 14-3 spurt thanks to a trio of kills from Rutten, seven SDSU attack errors, and capped off by a Fraase ace to build a comfortable 16-9 lead.
 
UND maintained its advantage for the remainder of the frame, hitting a match-high .333 and holding the Jackrabbits to just .059 and 10 attack errors to roll to a 25-14 victory in the second and a 2-0 match lead.
 
The Hawks also entered Saturday with kind numbers when leading after two frames, boasting a perfect 5-0 mark when taking a 2-0 lead.
 
In the third, South Dakota State again came out with a strong offensive attack and took an early 9-7 lead following Ashlynn Smith's 10 kill of the game. Once again, however, UND jolted the 979 in attendance with a 5-0 run to once again take control of the frame. After Williams and Vail each tallied a kill, the senior teamed up with Brueggeman for a big rejection followed by a Rutten ace to take a 12-9 lead and force a timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, UND never led the advantage slip lower than two as Rautio ended the match with a diving dig that found its way over the net and landed in the back corner of the court for an exclamation mark on the sweep.
 
North Dakota will enjoy a nice break from action before hitting the road for a quick trip down I-29 against Omaha on Oct. 5. UND then returns home to battle the four straight league champions Denver on Sunday at the Betty.
 
"The next three weeks of the season will really be where we need to improve," stressed Pryor. "The road from here gets rocky, but I'm excited to see how we can improve."