GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday to close out the 10th edition of the UND Classic from the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D. 

The Fighting Hawks (1-8) fell in five sets, 3-2, to Green Bay in an entertaining opening match before a sweep at the hands of tournament-champion Montana, 3-0, to end the weekend. 

Green Bay 3, North Dakota 2
North Dakota mounted a furious rally over the third and fourth sets to force a fifth frame, but the Phoenix held on to take the match to open Saturday. 

UND had one of its best hitting days of the season, connecting at a .202 clip and holding Green Bay to just .183 percent, but 11 service aces by the Phoenix and a +19 kill margin proved to be the difference. Lexi Ahrens led the way with 16 kills on 44 swings while Taylor Pribyl also notched double-digit kills with 13 on 38 attacks. 

Elizabeth Norris returned to the lineup and provided a spark with her passing and defense, scoring a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs. Peyton Sewell also crossed the 20-helper plateau with 21 while adding seven digs. Maddy Hornyak led the way with 22 total digs for the Hawks. 

After a tough first pair of sets that saw Green Bay jump out to a 2-0 lead, UND started to rally in the third. With Maddi Hart taking over at libero, the Hawks bounced back from an 11-6 deficit to rip off six straight points to jump in front, 12-11. UND kept its foot on the gas with back-to-back kills from Pribyl to extend the advantage to a game-high three, 15-12, before a block from Ahrens and Hornyak followed by a Pribyl service ace extended the lead to 20-15. A late push by Green Bay trimmed it to 24-23, but McCallister Gayle slammed down a kill to put away the set and force a fourth stanza. 

The hosts flipped the script in the fourth, jumping out to an early lead themselves with six of the first eight points to quickly build a 6-2 lead. The advantage grew as high as six at 9-3, but it was Green Bay's turn to put together a middle-set rally and eventually take an 11-9 lead themselves.  Both teams started to settle in as the frame wore on, with neither side building a lead larger than two after the score was tied at 13. Because of that, extra points were needed. The Phoenix had three chances at match point, but UND staved off every chance before an attack error followed by a rejection from Kelly Wahl and Hornyak gave the 31-29 win to the Hawks and forced a fifth set. 

Green Bay took control of the frame with the match tied at eight, scoring six of the next seven points to build a 14-9 lead before holding on for the 15-12 victory and the overall match win. 

Montana 3, North Dakota 0 
The Griz connected at match-high .324 clip to polish off a 3-0 sweep of the Fighting Hawks and complete a perfect weekend at the UND Classic. 

UND couldn't do much to slow down the attack from Montana, with the Griz committing only 11 attack errors on the evening and holding the hosts to just a .165 hitting percent to notch their first win over North Dakota since 2009, snapping a run of 15 straight wins by UND. 

Ashlyn Olson and Ahrens led the way with nine and eight kills, respectively, with Olson firing at a .421 attack percentage. Sewell and Norris again teamed up to reach double figures in helpers, with 16 and 13 for the hosts. Madi Hart, making the start at libero, finished with 11 digs. 

It was a similar script in the first two sets, with Montana controlling the middle portion of the frames to take 25-14 and 25-15 wins and jump out to a 2-0 lead; however, UND once again would not go down without a fight. 

Olson came out swinging with three straight points on kills for the Hawks to help the green and white build a 9-5 lead, but Montana evened the score at 11. The Hawks looked to have their foot on the gas in the frame, extending the lead to 21-15, but nine straight points by the Griz pushed the visitors ahead, 24-21. UND answered again with three straight points to knot the score at 24, but a service error and kill gave the Griz the victory. 

North Dakota will hit the road for the final time in non-conference play next weekend in Peoria, Ill. to battle Bradley, St. Louis and Northern Colorado beginning on Sept. 17 at 12:30 p.m.