GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota volleyball team finished its season Tuesday night with a 3-2 (25-17, 25-16, 18-25, 18-25, 15-7) win over North Dakota State.
Marissa Stockman tied with Paige Barber for the team lead with 13 kills in her final match in green and white, and fellow Senior honoree Kaycee O'Dell finished with ten kills, including the match winner. Elizabeth Norris led with 22 assists and Maddy Hornyak led with a season high 20 digs.
The first two sets were controlled by the Fighting Hawks, as the hosts hit .313 and .267 in the first two frames and won both sets handily. In the first frame Barber came out with the hot hand, racking up six kills on nine attacks with no errors. Stockman picked up two aces in the opening stanza as well. In the second frame, the Fighting Hawk defense held the Bison to a .000 hitting percentage to go up 2-0 in the match.
Starting with the third set, the Bison attack outpaced that of the Fighting Hawks for two sets, forcing a decisive fifth set.
During the fifth set, UND got out to a lead and never trailed. Kills from O'Dell, McCallister Gayle and Lauren Perugini propelled the Fighting Hawks to a 7-2 lead in the frame. The attack for the green and white was unstoppable as they hit .389 in the shortened frame with nine kills on 18 attacks. The final five points were all kills for NoDak, two from Perugini and three from O'Dell—which included the match winner that was set perfectly to be hammered down and conclude the season with a win.
Postgame Notes
· Both Norris and Perugini finished with double-doubles as Norris dished out 22 assists and tallied 13 digs while Perugini finished with 11 kills and 12 digs.
· The Fighting Hawks hit .250 in the match—their highest since hitting .255 against Oral Roberts on October 21.
· NoDak racked up 58 kills in the match, their most since getting 59 against South Dakota on October 5.
· Stockman hit .611 in the match, her second straight match hitting .600 or better.
· Izzie McCormick had two aces, and Teagan Timperley had an ace to go along with Stockman's two.
How It Happened
First set – UND 25, NDSU 17
Second set – UND 25, NDSU 16
Third set – NDSU 25, UND 18
Fourth set – NDSU 25, UND 18
Fifth set – UND 15, NDSU 7
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, follow on social media @UNDvolleyball or visit FightingHawks.com.
