GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The spring 2021 volleyball season will come full circle this weekend for the University of North Dakota (2-14, 2-12 Summit League). On Jan. 22 and 23, the Fighting Hawks opened the season against North Dakota State (8-8, 6-8 Summit) in a non-conference series, and on March 26 and 27, the Hawks will host the Bison in UND's final series of the season.
Following Saturday's match, the program will honor seniors
Sara Antic (Stari Banovci, Serbia) and
Taylor Riedl (Dana Point, Calif.) in Senior Night ceremonies. This weekend's matches will be broadcasted on The Home of Economy Sports Network with
Paul Ralston on the call. The radio broadcast will simulcast on UND Insider's free video stream and start at 7 p.m. Central.
Last weekend at Western Illinois, the Fighting Hawks freshmen shined as
Alexa Albinson, and
Sofia Hedqvist combined to lead North Dakota in kills per set, hitting percentage, blocks per set, and points per set.
Albinson recorded six kills and four blocks in each match against the Leathernecks, finishing the weekend with a team-high .225 hitting percentage and 0.89 blocks per set. On the outside, Hedqvist doubled her previous playing time as she appeared in eight sets after previously appearing in four. Tallying six kills in three sets on Friday, she appeared in all five sets the following night and led North Dakota with 16 kills and a .297 hitting percentage.
The South Lake Tahoe, Calif., product's performance was the third-best output by a Fighting Hawk this season, trailing only
Lexi Ahrens' performance at South Dakota State (20) and Oral Roberts (17) earlier this season.
Despite the big performances, North Dakota dropped Friday's match in four sets, 19-25,10-25, 25-15, 18-25, and Saturday's in five, 25-23, 9-25, 25-19, 21-25, 12-15.
NDSU enters the weekend 8-8 this season with a 6-8 Summit League record and has dropped its last four matches in 2021. In the season-opening series, the Bison won the two-game series with a 3-1 victory in the opener and a 3-0 win in the second meeting. Ali Hinze has been North Dakota State's top attacker, averaging 3.77 kills per set and serving the third-most aces per set at a clip of 0.25.
This weekend's series will mark the end of the Fighting Hawks season. For more news and updates on Fighting Hawks volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow UND Volleyball on Facebook or on Instagram and Twitter @UNDvolleyball.
