GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota volleyball team returned home on Thursday night, continuing its Summit League slate against Denver Pioneers. In a hard-fought match that went five sets, the Pioneers upended the Fighting Hawks 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 36-38, 25-12, 15-10).
Three individual career bests were set: Elizabeth Norris with 32 assists, Paige Barber with 18 kills and Lauren Perugini with 23 digs.
Denver got out to an early lead in the first set and controlled the frame from there, as the UND offense struggled to get their feet under them. But that would change in the second set.
During the second frame the Fighting Hawks attack flourished as the team hit .419 in the frame with 15 kills and only two errors on 31 attacks. Barber started the set with back-to-back kills and had six in the set. By the end of the frame she had eight kills on swings with no errors.
The third set was a marathon that ended up setting a new record for most points scored in a single set in program history during the rally scoring era. The 38 points exceeded the previous high of 36 which happened twice in 2003. NoDak had the first setpoint at 24-23, and had seven setpoints before converting on the eighth and final one as Teagan Timperley and Kaycee O'Dell combined on a block that won the set. During that time, Denver had six setpoints that UND was able to fight off.
Despite winning the third set, the Fighting Hawks were unable to maintain the momentum into the fourth as the Pioneers forced a decisive fifth stanza. NoDak conceded the first three sets of the fifth set and was unable to lead at any point during the frame.
The Fighting Hawks will end a three match week with a noon match against Oral Roberts Saturday, in which the team will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the starting of the program.
Postgame Notes
· Norris also had four of the team's five aces, which also set a new career high.
· Stockman and O'Dell both had five block assists to lead the team.
· Timperley's block to end the third set was the first of her career.
· Maddy Hornyak had double-digit digs with ten, her first time reaching double digits since September 2 against Providence.
How it Happened
First set: Denver 25, UND 17
Second set: UND 25, Denver 21
Third set: UND 38, Denver 36
Fourth set: Denver 25, UND 12
Fifth set: Denver 15, UND 10
